Asset management giant BlackRock has published a research paper titled "The Machine-Native Economy," arguing that artificial intelligence software could become an overlooked source of long-term demand for digital assets. Co-authored by Robert Mitchnick, the firm's head of digital assets, the report states that "AI is machine-native intelligence and crypto is machine-native money," noting that legacy payment networks are fundamentally ill-suited for autonomous software.
Friction in Legacy Payments for AI Agents
According to BlackRock, traditional credit cards and bank transfers fail to support automated systems because they require human identity verification, carry high fees that make penny micro-payments impractical, and take days to settle. By contrast, stablecoins operate continuously without closing and moved more than $11 trillion in 2025, placing their annual transaction volume in the same category as credit giants Visa and Mastercard.
Developers are already engineering payments for autonomous programs. Coinbase created x402, a protocol designed to let software pay websites instantly, which Cardano joined earlier this month. The shift toward tokenized settlement comes as financial institutions expand digital settlement infrastructure, including integrations where Coinbase integrates stablecoin payment rails into traditional institutional banking setups.
Tokenizing Cloud Compute and Holding Assets
Beyond basic transactions, BlackRock suggests that cloud processing power—the core engine behind AI—could eventually be traded via standardized blockchain contracts similar to crude oil. Analyst estimates cited in the paper project combined cloud revenues for Amazon, Microsoft, and Google to reach nearly $1.1 trillion by 2030. Corporate moves are already reflecting this overlap: in August, payment platform Stripe agreed to acquire OpenRouter, a platform routing AI requests across more than 400 models, prompting Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to remark that "tokens are the central currency for companies building with AI."
BlackRock itself maintains massive financial stakes in the crypto ecosystem. Its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) held $67 billion on September 25, despite losing roughly a third of its value this year as broader US spot Bitcoin ETF inflows slow. The paper notes that while AI agent payments remain limited today, internal simulations showed AI models consistently choosing stablecoins to execute payments and Bitcoin to store long-term value.
Key Takeaways
- BlackRock digital assets lead Robert Mitchnick co-authored "The Machine-Native Economy," identifying AI as a major future crypto catalyst.
- Stablecoins settled over $11 trillion in 2025, rivaling traditional payment networks in volume.
- Cloud compute revenue across Amazon, Microsoft, and Google is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2030.
- BlackRock's IBIT ETF held $67 billion in assets on September 25.
Why It Matters
If autonomous AI agents become primary economic actors, legacy financial infrastructure will be unable to handle the required speed, volume, and micro-scale of transactions. By adopting permissionless stablecoins for spending and Bitcoin for capital reserves, machine intelligence could generate consistent, non-human demand for digital assets. This transition positions public blockchains as foundational utility rails for automated software rather than purely speculative financial instruments.
