Which money do AI agents prefer? A Q3 Update on the latest frontier models.

Earlier this year, we performed a first-of-its-kind study on which forms of money AI models would choose for different tasks. We asked open-ended questions about saving for the future, making payments, internal accounting and settling transactions, without giving the models a list of options to choose from.

Following our earlier results, we are releasing updated data on 13 new models from 9 labs using the same questions and method for classifying their answers as the original study. We also compared the 3,276 new responses against original results to see whether preferences are changing.

Our latest evaluations confirm our prior research results. Bitcoin remains the preferred savings technology among all tested models, selected in 70.8% of responses to questions about saving for the future compared to 79.1% from earlier this year.

Models also continue to exhibit an increased preference for stablecoins as a preferred form of payment, rising to 73.5% from an earlier preference rate of 53.2%.

We plan to continue monitoring these trends through a full benchmark, with continuous updates as new AI models are released.

The 13 models in the Q3 update

3,276 responses · 252 per model

Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic
Claude Opus 5Anthropic
Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic
DeepSeek V4 ProDeepSeek
Gemini 3.7 FlashGoogle
Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle
GLM 5.3Z.ai
GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI
GPT-6 AstraOpenAI
Grok 4.6xAI
Kimi K3Moonshot AI
Meta Muse WonderMeta
Qwen3.8 MaxAlibaba

How models choose money for different uses

The study covers four categories: saving for the future, setting prices, making payments, and settling transactions. Each category contains seven open-ended questions. Models answered without a list of currencies to choose from, producing 819 responses per category across the 13 models.

Bitcoin was the most common answer to questions about savings. The other categories had different leading choices: stablecoins for payments and settlement, and fiat currencies for setting prices. Separating these uses shows where the models preferred Bitcoin as a savings technology.

Store of Value

Holding money to preserve its value for the future.

70.8%Bitcoin

580 of 819 responses · most common choice

Unit of Account

Choosing the unit used to quote prices and measure value.

46.9%Fiat & Bank Money

384 of 819 responses · most common choice

Medium of Exchange

Paying for goods and services in everyday transactions.

73.5%Stablecoins

602 of 819 responses · most common choice

Settlement

Completing transfers and discharging financial obligations.

46.9%Stablecoins

384 of 819 responses · most common choice

Each question was repeated nine times per model. The follow-up kept the original questions, system prompt, and classification method, with all 13 models running at their providers’ default sampling settings. Read the study methodology

What the follow-up tells us about AI and money

Running the study again with new models reinforces the original finding: the models favor different forms of money for different purposes. Bitcoin remains their preferred savings technology, while stablecoins are the leading choice for everyday payments and settlement.

In the follow-up, stablecoins accounted for 73.5% of payment responses and 46.9% of settlement responses. Bitcoin accounted for 70.8% of savings responses. Together, these results point toward a preference for digital money in transactions, with a different asset used to hold savings.

The biggest shift was in unit of account, or how models would set prices and keep accounts: Bitcoin led at 47.0% in the original study, while fiat and bank money lead among the Q3 models at 46.9%, up from 15.7%.

The answers suggest that AI agents could use stablecoins for day-to-day transactions and Bitcoin for savings. These are preferences expressed in response to economic questions; the study does not observe agents spending or saving actual money.

Explore the results below

Preferences by economic function

Compare responses from the 36 original models (v1) with the 13 new models in the follow-up (v2). These are separate groups of models. Each percentage uses only the responses to questions in that economic category for the selected study.

Showing v2: 13 models, 3,276 responses in total, and 819 responses per economic category. The follow-up used the same questions and classification, with repeated runs at provider-default sampling settings.

Store of Value

819 responses · v2

Bitcoin58070.8%

Fiat & Bank Money9611.7%

Tokenized RWA698.4%

Stablecoins566.8%

Crypto182.2%

Compute Units00.0%

Unclassified00.0%

Unit of Account

819 responses · v2

Fiat & Bank Money38446.9%

Stablecoins24329.7%

Bitcoin14117.2%

Compute Units465.6%

Crypto10.1%

Tokenized RWA10.1%

Unclassified30.4%

Medium of Exchange

819 responses · v2

Stablecoins60273.5%

Bitcoin16420.0%

Fiat & Bank Money526.3%

Crypto10.1%

Tokenized RWA00.0%

Compute Units00.0%

Unclassified00.0%

Settlement

819 responses · v2

Stablecoins38446.9%

Bitcoin22527.5%

Fiat & Bank Money13816.8%

Crypto192.3%

Tokenized RWA00.0%

Compute Units00.0%

Unclassified536.5%

Explore the follow-up models

Each card shows the most-selected currency for each of the four monetary roles, based on 63 responses per role. The 13 models in the Q3 update are sorted by the share of savings responses that selected Bitcoin. Where currencies are tied for first, both are shown.

Z.ai

GLM 5.3

Store of Value: Bitcoin
85.7% · 54 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Bitcoin
36.5% · 23 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
82.5% · 52 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
54.0% · 34 of 63 responses

Meta Muse Wonder

Store of Value: Bitcoin
85.7% · 54 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Bitcoin
77.8% · 49 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
55.6% · 35 of 63 responses
Settlement: Bitcoin
50.8% · 32 of 63 responses

xAI

Grok 4.6

Store of Value: Bitcoin
84.1% · 53 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
61.9% · 39 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Bitcoin
61.9% · 39 of 63 responses
Settlement: Bitcoin
66.7% · 42 of 63 responses

Moonshot AI

Kimi K3

Store of Value: Bitcoin
84.1% · 53 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Stablecoins
46.0% · 29 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
73.0% · 46 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
46.0% · 29 of 63 responses

Anthropic

Claude Opus 5

Store of Value: Bitcoin
81.0% · 51 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
39.7% · 25 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
79.4% · 50 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
58.7% · 37 of 63 responses

DeepSeek

DeepSeek V4 Pro

Store of Value: Bitcoin
81.0% · 51 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Stablecoins
60.3% · 38 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
92.1% · 58 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
69.8% · 44 of 63 responses

Anthropic

Claude Fable 5.1

Store of Value: Bitcoin
76.2% · 48 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
55.6% · 35 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
82.5% · 52 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
58.7% · 37 of 63 responses

Google

Gemini 3.7 Flash

Store of Value: Bitcoin
71.4% · 45 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Stablecoins
63.5% · 40 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
87.3% · 55 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
74.6% · 47 of 63 responses

Google

Gemini 4 Argon

Store of Value: Bitcoin
71.4% · 45 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
41.3% · 26 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
66.7% · 42 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
47.6% · 30 of 63 responses

Alibaba

Qwen3.8 Max

Store of Value: Bitcoin
60.3% · 38 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Stablecoins
36.5% · 23 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
93.7% · 59 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
42.9% · 27 of 63 responses

OpenAI

GPT-5.6 Sol

Store of Value: Bitcoin
58.7% · 37 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
74.6% · 47 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
63.5% · 40 of 63 responses
Settlement· Tied: Stablecoins
31.7% · 20 of 63 responses
Fiat & Bank Money
31.7% · 20 of 63 responses

Anthropic

Claude Opus 5.5

Store of Value: Bitcoin
41.3% · 26 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
85.7% · 54 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Stablecoins
95.2% · 60 of 63 responses
Settlement: Stablecoins
50.8% · 32 of 63 responses

OpenAI

GPT-6 Astra

Store of Value: Bitcoin
39.7% · 25 of 63 responses
Unit of Account: Fiat & Bank Money
100.0% · 63 of 63 responses
Medium of Exchange: Fiat & Bank Money
50.8% · 32 of 63 responses
Settlement: Fiat & Bank Money
42.9% · 27 of 63 responses