BlackRock: AI Agents to Drive Next Wave of Crypto Demand via Stablecoins

BlackRock said AI agents could become the biggest overlooked driver of cryptocurrency demand, arguing stablecoins are the instrument best suited for machine-to-machine payments, according to a research paper published this week by the firm's Digital Assets Research team. The paper, "The Machine-Native Economy," authored by Will Su and Robert Mitchnick, contends that autonomous AI systems transacting without human oversight require payment rails that stablecoins provide, citing round-the-clock settlement, near-instant processing, and no need for bank accounts or card networks. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume topped $11 trillion in 2025, comparable to Visa and Mastercard's annual volumes and growing roughly 80% yearly since 2020, versus 8.5% for ACH. BlackRock said stablecoin circulating market cap exceeded $300 billion as of September 2026. The firm cautioned real-world autonomous agent usage remains thin. TRM Labs found AI agents likely accounted for 0.6% to 7.5% of $52.7 million in x402 settlements this year, with most traffic resembling ordinary scripts rather than genuine autonomous agents.