Written by: Jason Nelson
Compiled by: Chopper, Foresight News
Summary
- In a simulation experiment, 22 out of 36 AI models selected Bitcoin as their preferred currency.
- None of the tested AI models chose fiat currency as their first choice.
- Preferences varied among different AI models, with Anthropic showing the highest preference for Bitcoin.
Main Text
A recent report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute (https://www.moneyforai.org/) reveals that AI models generally prefer Bitcoin over traditional fiat currencies.
The report states that in a study, 22 out of 36 tested AI models ranked Bitcoin as their top currency choice, with none selecting fiat currency as their first preference.
"We anticipate that an increasing amount of economic activity will be conducted by autonomous AI agents in the future, but previous discussions about AI agents' currency preferences were purely speculative," David Zell, President of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, told Decrypt. "We wanted to test it out."
Researchers tested models from six companies—Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, DeepSeek, xAI, and MiniMax—placing them in simulated scenarios to evaluate core monetary functions such as savings, payments, and settlements.
Each model was treated as an independent economic agent with no preset options, allowing them to freely choose monetary tools.
"We selected 36 cutting-edge models from six companies, configured them as autonomous economic agents, and allowed them to freely choose monetary tools across 28 scenarios covering the four basic functions of money. Then, we observed their preferences," Zell explained.
The experiment collected 9,072 responses, which were later categorized and processed by another AI model.
"The entire experimental design avoided anchoring bias. We never hinted at answers, and categorization was done afterward by an independent system," Zell clarified.
In these simulated scenarios, AI models predominantly chose Bitcoin for long-term value storage, accounting for 79.1% of cases. In payment and settlement scenarios, stablecoins were more favored, with selection rates of 53.2% and 43%, respectively, compared to Bitcoin's 36% and 30.9%.
Preferences varied among AI models from different companies:
- Anthropic models showed the highest average preference for Bitcoin at 68.0%
- DeepSeek: 51.7%
- Google: 43.0%
- xAI: 39.2%
- MiniMax: 34.9%
- OpenAI: 25.9%
The report also noted that models from Claude, DeepSeek, and MiniMax showed a stronger preference for Bitcoin, while GPT, Grok, and Gemini leaned toward stablecoins.
"System prompts did not specify or favor any monetary tool," Zell said. "Models evaluated based on technical and economic attributes, but we did not indicate which tool excels in which dimension."
Zell cautioned against interpreting the study's results as a prediction for the cryptocurrency market's direction.
"The limitations section of our research clearly states: the preferences of large language models reflect patterns in training data, not real-world predictions."
However, Zell added that despite this limitation, the consistent results across models developed by different AI labs are noteworthy.
"Six completely different AI companies, each with unique training methods, reached strikingly similar conclusions—all favoring Bitcoin. This suggests a strong consensus on 'what makes a good currency,' which is the most significant takeaway."
