BlackRock: AI Agents May Drive Demand for Stablecoins and Blockchain Payments

Odaily reports that global asset management firm BlackRock has released a research report titled "The Machine-Native Economy," arguing that as AI agents autonomously complete multi-step tasks, demand for onchain programmable payment infrastructure may increase, with stablecoins potentially used for payments and settlement.

The report notes that traditional bank accounts and card payment mechanisms are ill-suited for sub-1-cent, round-the-clock machine-to-machine payments. Stablecoins can achieve near-instant settlement without requiring manual account opening or confirmation.

BlackRock suggests that computing power could be wrapped into standardized contracts for buying, selling, collateralizing, or automatic settlement on the blockchain. TRM Labs' analysis of $52.7 million in x402 settlements this year shows that AI agents accounted for approximately 0.6% to 7.5% of payment volume. (Decrypt)