Robbie Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, said there has been a shift in how large investors view cryptocurrencies, pointing to artificial intelligence (AI) as a more meaningful driver than the expansion of new tokens.
When it comes to client behavior, Michnik described a market where there is no longer widespread exposure to smaller assets. He said the trading volume of the top coins is “pretty intense”, with only Bitcoin Subsequently, Ethereum (ETH) maintained a consistent stance. He said many newer coins are unable to maintain long-term relevance.
This pattern shapes investor demand. “Most of this is nonsense,” Michnik said at the Digital Asset Summit in New York on Tuesday, referring to the large number of tokens in circulation. As a result, clients are now focusing on a small set of assets rather than building broad portfolios. Bitcoin and Ethereum dominate the distribution, and outside of these names, interest is limited.
In this context, Michnik pointed to artificial intelligence as an even more important force in shaping the future role of cryptocurrencies. He stressed that artificial intelligence is a larger topic than digital assets, but said the way the two intersect could be important.
“AI agents are unlikely to use Fedwire and SWIFT,” he said. “What is cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency is currency native to computers…AI is data and intelligence native to computers. So there is a natural symbiotic relationship.”
This framework views cryptocurrencies more as infrastructure than a speculative asset class. Attracted by stable income and growing demand for computing power, more and more Bitcoin miners are turning resources toward artificial intelligence workloads. Several publicly traded miners, including Hut 8 (HUT), Core Scientific (CORZ) and Iren (IREN), are either repurposing data centers or signing colocation deals related to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Others have expressed similar plans, even if mining remains their core business.
Michnik also linked AI-driven disruption to Bitcoin’s appeal. As new technologies reshape industries and create uncertainty, he suggested Bitcoin could serve as a stable allocation. It can act as a diversification factor during periods of rapid change.
“There are relevant intersections…that are clearly advantages and opportunities to play a role in the AI economy,” he said.
