New York, United States, April 7th, 2026, Chainwire

New report shows AI systems prefer Bitcoin for autonomous transactions, with early agent economies forming on Stacks

Tenero, a multi-chain analytics platform for the Bitcoin ecosystem, has published new research identifying Stacks as the primary Bitcoin Layer 2 where AI agent economic activity is concentrating.

The report builds on recent findings from the Bitcoin Policy Institute, where researchers conducted over 9,000 controlled experiments across leading AI systems. In those tests, 48.3% of models selected Bitcoin as their preferred currency, compared to 33.2% for stablecoins and 8.9% for fiat. For long-term value storage, Bitcoin was chosen in 79.1% of cases.

According to Tenero, these preferences are already translating into onchain activity on Stacks, the longest-running Bitcoin Layer 2 smart contract network.

AI Agents Are Transacting on Stacks

Autonomous agent activity on Stacks has doubled week-over-week in consecutive weeks, growing from 105 to 766 active agents. More than 491,000 sats have been transacted by agents executing economic activity on the network, alongside thousands of onchain messages and check-ins.

One early use case, highlighted by prominent DeFi researcher The DeFi Edge, describes an agent known as “Tiny Marten” operating on Stacks to earn BTC by running a bounty board and selling data queries priced in satoshis.

AI Agent Use of Bitcoin and Stacks Infrastructure

AI systems operating as independent economic participants favor monetary networks that are permissionless, durable, and computationally transparent. Bitcoin meets those requirements at the base layer. Stacks extends Bitcoin with smart contract functionality through Clarity, a predictable and auditable contract language, enabling agents to hold, earn, and deploy BTC programmatically without leaving Bitcoin’s security model.

This combination of Bitcoin’s monetary properties and Stacks’ programmability creates the infrastructure AI agents need to participate in onchain economies.

Stacks does not replace Bitcoin but extends it, transforming BTC from a passive store of value into productive capital.

The Emerging AI Agent Economy on Bitcoin

The research suggests a new category of economic participant is forming: autonomous agents that earn, spend, and allocate Bitcoin through smart contracts on Stacks. As AI systems increasingly operate with economic agency, the infrastructure supporting that activity becomes strategically significant.

Stacks is positioned as the Bitcoin smart contract platform where this activity is taking root.

Users can read the full report and analysis here.

About Tenero

Tenero is a multi-chain analytics platform focused on delivering transparent, institutional-grade data and research across the Bitcoin ecosystem. By tracking onchain activity, liquidity flows, protocol upgrades, and capital efficiency metrics, Tenero provides actionable intelligence for investors, builders, and institutions exploring the future of productive Bitcoin.

For more information, users can visit tenero.io.

About Stacks

Stacks is the Bitcoin-secured smart contract layer where Bitcoin grows. It extends Bitcoin’s functionality without compromising settlement on Bitcoin L1, enabling Bitcoin staking and Bitcoin-native yield through its Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus. The network has distributed over $500 million worth of BTC in rewards since launch. With upgrades including Nakamoto and the launch of sBTC, Stacks provides institution-ready infrastructure for scalable Bitcoin DeFi. 

Users can learn more at stacks.co.

Contact

Shannon Voight
Stacks
[email protected]