Stablecoins Set to Benefit from AI-Driven Autonomous Payments

BlackRock's report 'The Machine-Native Economy' suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could revolutionize who initiates economic activity. Instead of people making individual payment decisions, software could execute thousands of small transactions to complete a task.

The world's largest asset manager believes AI systems will increasingly purchase data, access software, and acquire computing resources on their own, potentially adding a new source of transaction demand to digital assets beyond trading and human payments. Stablecoins, which have already reached $300 billion in circulation, could benefit from this trend, as they are better positioned for small, frequent, or native-to-software transactions.

BlackRock estimates that stablecoin activity grew at an 80% compound annual rate between 2020 and 2025, compared to roughly 8.5% for the US Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. However, traditional payment networks may adapt to autonomous software, particularly where agents transact with established businesses and consumers.

The report also notes that AI systems could make a significant impact on computing power, with cumulative investment in AI infrastructure potentially exceeding $5 trillion between 2025 and 2030. This could create a large resource market for increasingly autonomous agents to navigate, leading to new payment patterns and potentially larger financial markets.