BlackRock (BLK) "Spread of AI Agents Drives Demand for Virtual Assets and Blockchain Infrastructure"

▲ XRP, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cryptocurrency Payment / AI Generated Image

An analysis by the world's largest asset manager suggests that the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) agents will trigger new structural demand for virtual assets and blockchain infrastructure. With the full-scale emergence of machine-to-machine transactions, such as the purchase of computational resources and data, stablecoins and tokenized assets are expected to become key payment methods in the autonomous economy.

Citing a recent research report by BlackRock (BLK), BeInCrypto reported on September 30 (local time) that AI and virtual assets are moving beyond their traditional parallel technological development and converging into a single economic infrastructure layer. In its report, BlackRock defined AI as representing 'machine-native intelligence' and virtual assets as performing the role of 'machine-native currency'. As agent systems that autonomously call external tools and perform complex tasks without human intervention increase, blockchain payment networks that operate 24/7 and can process micro-transactions in real-time have emerged as essential elements.

BlackRock identified stablecoins as the core asset for transactional units. This is because their stable value, pegged to the dollar, allows for seamless processing of API calls, real-time data purchases, and on-demand payments based on computational resource consumption. Indeed, as of September 2026, the circulating market capitalization of stablecoins exceeded $300 billion, and the annual adjusted transaction volume in 2025 surpassed $11 trillion. The clarified regulatory environments in major countries such as the United States, the European Union (EU), Hong Kong, and Singapore were also cited as factors accelerating the adoption of machine-to-machine payments.

Computational resources (compute), essential for AI training and inference, are also evolving into a new digital asset class. BlackRock estimated that the annual revenue of hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft (MSFT), and Google Cloud will reach $1.1 trillion by 2030. Accordingly, it predicted that on-chain financial products and computational futures products that standardize and tokenize computational processing capabilities, allowing for collateralization and securitization, will emerge in the market.

The development of dedicated communication and payment protocols to support autonomous machine-to-machine payments is also gaining momentum. New standards such as x402, ACP, MCP, and A2A, which coordinate data access and fund transfers between agents, are being rapidly established. However, BlackRock noted that since the liquidity of the agent commerce infrastructure and the computational distribution market is still in its early stages, authentication limits and identity verification procedures to control autonomous transactions must be prioritized.

The proliferation of AI agents and the surge in computational demand are fundamentally reshaping the virtual asset ecosystem. Market attention is focused on whether stablecoins and on-chain computational assets can establish themselves as a new foundational infrastructure, surpassing traditional finance, within a machine-led autonomous economic system.

[Article Key Summary]

-BlackRock (BLK) analyzed that the spread of AI agents will drive new demand for virtual assets and blockchain infrastructure.

-Stablecoins, with a market size of $300 billion, have been identified as a key means for machine-to-machine micro-settlements and on-demand computational payments.

-Cloud computational resources, projected to grow to $1.1 trillion by 2030, are expected to evolve into tokenized assets and financial products.

*Disclaimer: This article is for investment reference only, and we are not responsible for any investment losses based on it. The content should be interpreted for informational purposes only.*