In their latest paper, BlackRock argues that the development of artificial intelligence may not divert attention from the crypto market; instead, it could bring new use cases for digital assets. Their focus is not on coin prices, but rather on the actual demand for payment tools and on-chain contracts after the integration of AI software with financial systems.

AI Proxying or Driving Up the Use of Stablecoins

BlackRock believes that AI agents that can execute tasks autonomously are becoming more practical. Such systems can not only call external services but may also initiate payments or complete transactions directly. If these applications expand, the demand for small, continuous, and round-the-clock settlements between machines will also increase.

In this context, stablecoins are considered more suitable tools for machine payments. The paper mentions that although traditional payment channels already support a certain degree of automation, they are still limited by account opening, integration, and processing procedures in scenarios involving high frequency, small amounts, and 24/7 payments. In contrast, stablecoins can be transferred on the blockchain 24 hours a day.

The cases mentioned in the text include Coinbase launching x402, as well as Stripe, OpenAI, Google, and Visa advancing proxy payment-related protocols. BlackRock believes that if such infrastructure continues to mature, it may directly drive an increase in the demand for stablecoins.

Public chain or undertaking additional settlement traffic

BlackRock also pointed out that most of the currently large-staked stablecoins operate on public blockchains such as Ethereum. If the payment activities driven by AI increase, the relevant public chains may also see more settlement traffic and demand for use.

This means that the combination of AI and encryption does not remain at just a conceptual level, but may first be implemented starting with payments. For the digital asset market, new demand may not necessarily come from speculative trading, but could also arise from real payment activities initiated by machines.

Computing resources may also become on-chain.

In addition to payments, BlackRock is also focusing on the computing power market required for AI. The paper states that training and running the AI model requires a large amount of GPU and data center investments, with associated infrastructure costs being quite high, which could give rise to new categories of digital assets.

BlackRock expects that in the future, there may be standardized rights certificates for "future computing power" in the market. Such contracts could be traded just like standardized contracts in the commodities market, and they might also be represented and transferred in a blockchain-based format.

If this trend takes shape, the crypto market will not only accommodate payment demands but may also include assetization transaction demands corresponding to AI infrastructure. BlackRock's assessment indicates that the intersection between AI and crypto is shifting from a narrative level to more concrete payment and resource markets.