Ethereum developers are preparing to implement ERC-8004, a new standard designed to help software agents find each other, prove who they are, and decide who to trust when operating on different systems.
The proposal introduces a simple idea. If AI agents are going to autonomously transact, coordinate, and execute tasks, 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 rush to deploy AI agents internally; most systems still rely on closed identity lists, API keys, or bilateral trust agreements. This works within a company, but fails once agents need to coordinate across suppliers, chains, or jurisdictions.
ERC-8004 defines three lightweight registers that can live on the Ethereum mainnet or Layer 2 networks.
ERC-8004 will be available on mainnet soon.
By enabling discovery and portable reputation, ERC-8004 enables AI agents to interact across organizations, ensuring credibility travels everywhere.
This opens up a global market where AI services can interoperate without gatekeepers. https://t.co/Yrl0rvnSxj
— Ethereum (@ethereum) January 27, 2026
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 log file that describes what the agent does, how to get to it, and what protocols it supports. Identifier ownership 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 be performed off-chain. The goal is not to classify agents directly, but to make reputation data public and reusable across applications.
The third is a validation log, which allows agents to request independent verifications of their work. Validators could include staking services, machine learning tests, trusted hardware, or other verification systems. These results are stored on the blockchain so other users can see what was verified and who verified it.
The developers involved in the proposal frame it as infrastructure rather than a market. ERC-8004 does not handle payments, pricing or business models. Instead, it provides common paths for discovery and trust, leaving monetization in the hands of higher-level protocols.
If adopted, the standard could further push Ethereum into a neutral infrastructure role, not only for financial contracts but also for coordinating autonomous software agents in an increasingly fragmented AI ecosystem.
The network ether trading just over $3,000 in Asian afternoon hours on Wednesday, up almost 3% in the last 24 hours.
