Blackrock Report Suggests Bitcoin Losing Ground in Agentic Economy

A recent paper by Blackrock on the 'Machine-Native Economy' has sparked debate about the role of Bitcoin in the emerging agentic economy. The report, co-authored by exchange-traded fund (ETF) product executives among others, suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is driving demand for digital assets. However, it assigns Bitcoin a limited role as a savings technology.

The research shows that AI models favor stablecoins for everyday payments and Bitcoin for long-term value preservation. But newer AI models have shifted their preferences even more towards stablecoins, with support for Bitcoin payments dropping from 36% to 20%. The report also notes that compliance-minded institutional players still prefer permissioned systems.

Bitcoin advocates argue that the agentic economy needs a digital bearer asset like Bitcoin, but they face challenges in usability, payment-rail positioning, and cultural acceptance. To counter this, developers are working on improving tools for AI agents to use Bitcoin, such as Lightning Labs' Wavelength, which allows self-custodial $BTC payments without running Lightning infrastructure.

The ongoing war among competing payment rails has many possible long-term scenarios, leaving Bitcoin's role in the future undecided. While it may be losing the medium-term battle, the agentic economy is still tiny and forms more as an extension of current systems rather than creating something new.