Why BlackRock Thinks AI Agents Could Run On Stablecoins And Bitcoin

BlackRock said the study's results reflected simulated model responses and that agentic payment activity remained nascent.

• BlackRock said stablecoins provided a stable unit of account and more predictable pricing and settlement for agents.
• The models were subjected to 9,072 open-ended scenarios without suggested currencies or prompted answers.
• Bitcoin received 48.3% of responses, while stablecoins garnered 33.2% of the responses.

BlackRock (BLK), the world's largest asset manager, stated in a paper published on Monday that AI agents will need payment systems machines can use on their own, and that stablecoins and crypto assets could fill that role.

The asset manager explained in the report that the research findings pointed to “a potential AI-native monetary architecture in which stablecoins serve as transaction money and bitcoin as a store of value.” 

Researcher Matthew Boyer put 36 models from Anthropic, DeepSeek, Alphabet Inc.’s Google (GOOG, GOOGL), MiniMax, OenAI (OPEAZZX) and xAI through 9,072 open-ended scenarios, with no currencies suggested and no answers prompted. Bitcoin drew 48.3% of responses overall and stablecoins 33.2%. More than 90% of answers favored digitally-native money over traditional fiat.