Ethereum unveils new rules to make AI agents turstworthy
What to know:
- Ethereum developers are set to roll out ERC-8004, a new standard that gives AI software agents persistent on-chain identities and a shared framework for establishing credibility.
- The standard defines three registries—identity, reputation and validation—that let agents register themselves, collect reusable feedback and publish independent checks of their work on Ethereum or layer-2 networks.
- Framed as neutral infrastructure rather than a marketplace, ERC-8004 aims to enable interoperable, gatekeeper-free AI services on Ethereum, even as ether trades just above $3,000 after a recent price gain.
Ethereum developers are preparing to roll out ERC-8004, a new standard designed to help software agents find each other, prove who they are, and decide who to trust when they operate across different systems.
The proposal introduces a simple idea. If AI agents are going to transact, coordinate and execute tasks autonomously, they need persistent identities and a shared way to build credibility — much like users, wallets or smart contracts do today.
It comes as large companies race to deploy AI agents internally, most systems still rely on closed identity lists, API keys or bilateral trust agreements. That works inside a firm, but breaks down once agents need to coordinate across vendors, chains or jurisdictions.
ERC-8004 defines three lightweight registries that can live on Ethereum mainnet or layer-2 networks.
The first is an identity registry, which assigns each agent a unique on-chain identifier using an ERC-721-style token. That identifier points to a registration file describing what the agent does, how to reach it and which protocols it supports. Ownership of the identifier can be transferred, delegated or updated, giving agents portable, censorship-resistant identities.
The second is a reputation registry, where clients — human or machine — can submit structured feedback about an agent’s performance. The registry stores raw signals on-chain, while allowing more complex scoring and filtering to happen off-chain. The goal isn’t to rank agents directly but to make reputation data public and reusable across applications.
The third is a validation registry, which lets agents request independent checks of their work. Validators could include staked services, machine learning proofs, trusted hardware or other verification systems. These results are stored on the blockchain so other users can see what was checked and by whom.
Developers involved in the proposal frame it as infrastructure rather than a marketplace. ERC-8004 doesn’t handle payments, pricing or business models. Instead, it provides common rails for discovery and trust, leaving monetization to higher-level protocols.
If adopted, the standard could push Ethereum further into a role as neutral infrastructure — not just for financial contracts, but for coordinating autonomous software agents in an increasingly fragmented AI ecosystem.
The network's ether trades just over $3,000 in Asian afternoon hours Wednesday, up nearly 3% in the past 24 hours.
