BlackRock ties AI’s impact on crypto demand to the growing compute market

BlackRock is making an unusual argument for a firm that manages trillions of dollars in traditional assets: artificial intelligence, not just regulation or institutional adoption, could become one of the biggest forces pushing more money into crypto. In a new research paper, the world’s largest asset manager lays out a case that the AI impact crypto demand connection is far stronger than most investors currently assume, and that it remains largely overlooked by the broader market.

Key takeaways

• BlackRock’s paper, titled “The Machine-Native Economy”, argues that AI adoption could be an underappreciated source of demand for digital assets.
• The firm says rising machine-to-machine payments could boost demand for blockchains, stablecoins and other programmable payment infrastructure.
• BlackRock sees an emerging market where computing capacity gets tokenized, traded and used as collateral.
• Stablecoins are expected to lead transactional use in high-frequency, machine-native payments, according to the research.
• Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has separately argued that AI agents will need programmable money, reinforcing BlackRock’s thesis from the crypto industry side.

BlackRock Identifies AI Adoption as Key Driver for Digital Assets Demand

BlackRock’s central claim is straightforward: broad AI adoption could represent an underappreciated source of demand for digital assets. That’s the headline finding from the firm’s Digital Assets Research team, published in a white paper subtitled “How digital assets connect intelligence, commerce, and compute.”

The paper is authored by BlackRock researchers Will Su, Robert Mitchnick, Jay Jacobs and William Helm. “Together, these developments position AI as a structural catalyst for digital asset adoption and digital assets as a potential facilitator of the AI economy,” the authors wrote. They added that “this relationship remains underappreciated and could expand the role of digital assets as core infrastructure for an increasingly autonomous digital economy.”

That framing matters because it comes from a firm managing trillions of dollars in assets. BlackRock isn’t launching a new product here — the document is explicitly a research piece, not an announcement — but its willingness to publicly connect AI growth to crypto demand carries weight given the firm’s scale and its existing footprint in tokenized products like the BUIDL fund.

AI and Machine-to-Machine Payments Boost Blockchain and Payment Infrastructure

According to BlackRock, as AI-driven and machine-to-machine transactions grow, demand could rise substantially for blockchains and other programmable payment systems, including stablecoins and other on-chain assets. This is the section of the paper where the AI impact crypto demand thesis gets the most concrete.

Why existing payment rails fall short

The researchers point out that while today’s payment systems can support some automation, account setup, credentialing and authorization often still require human involvement. Merchant fees can also make very small transactions uneconomical, and settlement times vary widely between providers — friction that doesn’t work well for machines transacting with each other continuously.

Stablecoins positioned to lead

BlackRock argues that stablecoins, native cryptocurrencies and tokenized real-world assets are better suited to high-frequency, sub-cent, round-the-clock machine-to-machine transactions. “Several types of digital assets may support agentic commerce, but stablecoins are likely to lead transactional use,” the authors wrote. The paper also flags agentic payment protocols such as x402 and the Machine Payments Protocol as foundational infrastructure that could let AI agents pay for services without a human clicking “confirm purchase,” a detail highlighted in Crypto Briefing’s coverage of the research.

Tokenizing Computing Capacity as a New Market for Digital Assets

BlackRock’s most novel idea is that computing power itself could become a tradable digital asset. The paper describes an opportunity for digital assets to support the fast-growing compute market — the processing capacity needed to train and run AI systems — by allowing claims on that capacity to be tokenized, traded and used as collateral.

As AI demand surges, companies may want to lock in costs while providers look to manage risk. Representing claims on compute capacity as tokens would let those claims be transferred, pledged as collateral, or traded like any other financial instrument. “This could in turn broaden institutional investor participation and establish compute as a new opportunity for the broader digital asset ecosystem,” the authors wrote. They also suggested AI agents could eventually use these markets to automatically purchase the resources they need.

The scale of that opportunity isn’t small. BlackRock’s paper points to the rapidly expanding hyperscaler cloud services market as evidence of how large this compute opportunity could become. “Compute is emerging as a new and potentially large market for digital assets,” the paper states. Even so, BlackRock is careful to caveat the idea: these markets remain “largely speculative at this stage,” and the firm says robust infrastructure around permissions, identity and compliance still needs to be built before any of it becomes real.

This is where the analysis matters most for investors watching the space. If tokenized compute captures even a small slice of the hyperscaler cloud market, it would represent a segment larger than most existing crypto sectors today — turning an abstract AI infrastructure story into a concrete, investable digital-asset category.

How AI Could Drive Greater Crypto Adoption, According to Industry Leaders

Rather than being an isolated view, BlackRock’s argument mirrors similar points already being made within the crypto sector. Earlier this year, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong rejected suggestions that crypto should shift its focus toward AI, contending instead that AI agents would likely drive greater demand for crypto-based financial tools.

“AI being a megatrend takes nothing away from crypto,” Armstrong wrote, noting that programmable money—rather than conventional banking infrastructure—would be essential for AI agents. “If anything, it makes crypto more important,” he added.

A number of crypto firms are already developing infrastructure to enable this transition. Both Coinbase’s x402 protocol and Tempo’s Machine Payments Protocol allow AI agents to automatically settle payments for online services. Earlier this year, Circle launched agent wallets along with USDC payment tools, while OKX’s Agent Payments Protocol enables recurring billing and escrow-style setups in which funds are only released once a task has been completed.

Taken together, BlackRock’s research and the moves from Coinbase, Tempo, Circle and OKX suggest the industry is positioning itself well before agentic AI payments become mainstream. Whether that positioning translates into real transaction volume — and how quickly — remains the open question the market will be watching closely.

FAQ

How does BlackRock view the impact of AI on digital asset demand?

BlackRock views AI adoption as a structural catalyst that could significantly boost demand for digital assets and expand their role in the autonomous digital economy.

What role do stablecoins play in AI-driven payments according to BlackRock?

Stablecoins are expected to lead transactional use in high-frequency, low-value machine-to-machine payments facilitated by agentic AI.

What is the significance of tokenizing computing capacity for digital assets?

Tokenizing computing capacity could create new tradable digital assets that support the compute market, allowing claims on computing resources to be traded, used as collateral, and broaden institutional interest.

What is Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s stance on AI’s effect on crypto demand?

Brian Armstrong argues that AI being a megatrend enhances the importance of crypto, since AI agents will require programmable money instead of traditional banking systems.

Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.