A research paper published on 23 September 2026 by BlackRock argues that artificial intelligence and digital assets are fundamentally converging as autonomous software agents begin executing commercial transactions. Authored by the asset manager’s digital assets research division rather than Chief Executive Larry Fink, the paper positions machine-readable financial ledgers as necessary infrastructure for autonomous software. The publication coincided with a broader market recovery, with Bitcoin consolidating near $83,922 after touching its highest levels since January.
Who Authored the Report
The paper was written by Will Su, BlackRock’s head of digital assets research, and Robert Mitchnick, its head of digital assets. Much of the coverage has attached the BlackRock AI crypto prediction to Larry Fink, who has separately been among the most bullish Wall Street executives on the asset class, but the argument and its wording come from the research desk.
Its opening position is that the growth of artificial intelligence is the defining technology theme of this era, and that the rise of digital assets is a concurrent theme with particular implications for financial infrastructure.
The Argument in Plain Terms
Large language models and blockchains share analogous tokenization architectures, the researchers write, and agentic commerce driven by AI will need machine-native payment rails. Rising demand for computing power, they argue, could create a large new market settled in digital assets.
The paper frames the relationship as a division of labor: AI interprets information and directs action, while blockchains provide machine-readable assets and programmable settlement. It describes this as underappreciated and says digital assets could become core infrastructure for an increasingly autonomous digital economy.
Division of Labor in an Autonomous Economy
This is not purely forecast. The x402 standard lets an application or AI agent pay inside an ordinary internet request. It was created in 2025 from an unused web error code and later contributed to a Linux Foundation-backed organization whose members include Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Google and Amazon Web Services.
Cardano joined the x402 software kit this week, and Solana, the XRP Ledger and several Ethereum-compatible networks already support it. Ripple added a rival standard, the Machine Payments Protocol, to its XRP Ledger developer kit on 17 September. The rails the paper describes are being built now, though volumes remain small and most agent payments still settle in USDC.
Market Context and Narrative Cycles
The research report coincided with broad strength across digital asset markets. After touching an intraday peak near $87,500 on 22 September, the spot Bitcoin price consolidated around $83,922, representing a market valuation of $1.68 trillion and a 50% recovery from cyclical lows recorded earlier in the summer.
The sharp price advance amplified public attention surrounding the research release, driving global search volume for institutional crypto market outlooks to elevated breakout readings.
Commercial Positioning: Evaluating Institutional Research
BlackRock runs the largest spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund and has built a tokenization business around real-world assets. A paper arguing that digital assets will become core infrastructure for the AI economy supports products the firm already sells, which does not make the argument wrong but does mean it is not neutral.
Crypto market cycles have been organized around narratives before initial coin offerings in 2017, non-fungible tokens and the metaverse in 2021, and exchange-traded funds and institutional adoption in 2024. AI and crypto are the candidates for the next one, and the largest asset manager in the world has now put its name to it.
FAQs
1. What did BlackRock say about AI and crypto?
BlackRock published a research paper on 23 September arguing that artificial intelligence and digital assets are increasingly converging as machines take a greater role in economic activity. It says agentic commerce will need machine-native payment rails and that demand for computing power could create a large new market.
2. Did Larry Fink make the prediction?
Larry Fink did not make this prediction. The paper was written by Will Su, BlackRock’s head of digital assets research, and Robert Mitchnick, its head of digital assets. Fink has made separate bullish comments on the asset class as chief executive.
3. Does machine payment technology already exist?
Machine payment technology exists and is in use. The x402 standard lets an application or AI agent pay within an internet request, and Solana, the XRP Ledger, Cardano and several Ethereum-compatible networks support it. Volumes remain small, and most agent payments still settle in USDC.
4. Why is BlackRock’s view on crypto significant?
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and runs the largest spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund alongside a tokenization business. That scale gives its research weight, and it also gives the firm commercial exposure to the conclusion the paper reaches.
