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According to BlackRock, the findings of the study represent responses from simulated models, indicating that agentic payment activities are still in their early stages.
- BlackRock noted that stablecoins offer a consistent unit of account along with more reliable pricing and settlement for agents.
- The models were evaluated against 9,072 open-ended scenarios lacking any suggested currencies or prompted answers.
- Bitcoin accounted for 48.3% of the responses, while stablecoins received 33.2%.
In a report released on Monday, BlackRock (BLK), the world’s foremost asset manager, asserted that AI agents will require payment systems that machines can autonomously operate, suggesting that stablecoins and cryptocurrencies could fulfill this need.
The asset manager explained that the research pointed toward a “possible AI-centric monetary structure, where stablecoins function as transaction currency and bitcoin serves as a store of value.”
Researcher Matthew Boyer examined 36 models from AI companies such as Anthropic, DeepSeek, Alphabet Inc.’s Google (GOOG, GOOGL), MiniMax, OpenAI (OPEAZZX), and xAI using 9,072 open-ended scenarios, without any suggested currencies or prompted answers. Overall, Bitcoin garnered 48.3% of responses while stablecoins secured 33.2%. More than 90% of responses favored digital money over traditional fiat currency.
Bitcoin was identified as the top choice for a store of value at 79.1%, while stablecoins led in daily transactions with 53.2%. BlackRock cautioned against misinterpretation of these findings, emphasizing that the results “mirror simulated model responses rather than real agent behavior.”
It’s crucial to note that this research was not directly conducted by BlackRock; it was produced by the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), a Bitcoin advocacy organization that published it in March.
Bitcoin’s market price was around $84,000, showing a 1% decline over the previous 24 hours. Across Stocktwits, retail sentiment regarding BTC shifted from ‘neutral’ to the ‘bearish’ territory as discussions remained low over the last day.
Divergence Among Models
The study revealed substantial variation in preferences, indicating that average figures obscured significant discrepancies. Bitcoin preferences varied, with ranges from 91.3% within certain model families to just 18.3% in others. Boyer linked this disparity to differences in intelligence, training datasets, and alignment methods of the models.
Understanding this variance is critical for interpreting the headline statistics. The specific AI model utilized affects the outcome more than the questions posed do.
Stablecoins’ Prominence
BlackRock’s rationale for the leading role of stablecoins in payments hinges on their price stability. The firm asserted that stablecoins provide agents with a dependable unit of account along with more predictable pricing and settlement. As of September 2026, their circulating market capitalization surpassed $300 billion. BlackRock noted that if a greater volume of settlements transitioned onto permissionless networks, there could be an increased demand for blockspace, validator services, and transaction fees; however, the value that reaches a network’s native token will depend on its fee structure, staking, and gas sponsorship design.
Nonetheless, the firm emphasized that these developments are not yet occurring on a large scale. Agentic payment activities remain in their infancy, according to BlackRock, while the markets for the computational resources these systems require are still underdeveloped.
One company is strategically positioned in this scenario. BlackRock pointed out Circle’s (CRCL) USD Coin (USDC) as a primary early use case for x402, the machine payment protocol from Coinbase (COIN), and highlighted Circle’s Arc network, designed for USDC to serve as the native gas asset.
Circle stock, a leading stablecoin issuer, faced a slight decline in pre-market trading on Wednesday. Retail sentiment about CRCL on Stocktwits remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, with discussions categorized as ‘normal’ over the preceding 24 hours.
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