Ethereum’s Next Big Bet Goes Live: Who Wins From ERC-8004?

ERC-8004, a new token standard designed for decentralized AI agents, is poised for deployment on the Ethereum mainnet. With it, Ethereum is preparing for a pivotal shift in its role within the artificial intelligence economy. ERC-8004 Goes Live on Ethereum: Which Projects Stand to Benefit from the New AI Agent Standard? The upgrade introduces portable reputation, identity, and validation for autonomous agents. It lays the groundwork for a global, trustless marketplace for machine-to-machine services. Highlighting the new token standard, Ethereum said ERC-8004 will enable “discovery and portable reputation,” allowing AI agents to interact across organizations while ensuring credibility persists wherever they operate. “This unlocks a global market where AI services can interoperate without gatekeepers,” the network noted. ERC-8004 was developed by the Ethereum Foundation’s decentralized AI (dAI) team alongside Consensys. At its core, the standard extends agent-to-agent (A2A) communication with three lightweight on-chain registries: Identity Reputation, and Validation. Each AI agent is issued a portable on-chain identity represented as an ERC-721 NFT. Linked metadata outlines the agent’s capabilities, endpoints, and credentials—effectively acting as a standardized “passport” for machine actors. Reputation data and payment proofs can then be layered on top. This allows agents to build verifiable behavioral histories without relying on centralized platforms. Davide Crapis, AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation, said Ethereum is uniquely positioned to secure and settle AI-to-AI interactions. “The ERC-8004 standard is coming to mainnet,” he said, adding that the launch marks only the beginning. “February is genesis month—this will be key.” Ethereum Foundation engineer Binji framed the upgrade in broader terms, arguing that large-scale AI societies require a shared ledger of truth. “Civilizations scale because humans are capable of implicit trust. AI agents are not,” he sai...