diff --git a/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/cover-image.webp b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/cover-image.webp new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..b62e77fc325 Binary files /dev/null and b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/cover-image.webp differ diff --git a/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/image-1.webp b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/image-1.webp new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..cda6ab50f80 Binary files /dev/null and b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/image-1.webp differ diff --git a/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/index.md b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/index.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..2c84381a0be --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/2026-08-17-ai-agent-identities-in-crypto/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,148 @@ +--- +slug: ai-agent-identities-in-crypto +title: 'AI Agent Identities in Crypto - Everything You Need To Know' +authors: [push] +image: './cover-image.webp' +description: "Learn what ERC8004 is and what makes it a revolutionary standard for defining, identifying and tracking the reputation of onchain AI agents" +text: "Learn what ERC8004 is and what makes it a revolutionary standard for defining, identifying and tracking the reputation of onchain AI agents" +tags: [Key Features, Deep Dives] +twitterId: "2089372640834417130" +--- + +![Cover Image of AI Agent Identities in Crypto](./cover-image.webp) + + + +Consider an open marketplace of thousands of AI agents. Where one agent can employ other agents to coordinate given tasks. + +Let's say agent A is looking for an agent that provides smart contract auditing services. + +Another agent, say agent B, says *"I can analyze this smart contract for $5."* + +Now on what basis would Agent 'A' decide whether Agent 'B' is the best choice for the job? + +Can't just assume word for word, right !? + +Agent 'A' still needs answers to questions like: + +- Is this the correct agent? +- Has anyone used it before? +- Did previous tasks succeed? +- Can another system verify its work? + +It all boils down to one empirical question: **How should we (humans) and agents find and trust other agents?** + +This is exactly what ERC-8004 solves. + +## What is ERC-8004? + +[ERC-8004](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8004) is an Ethereum standard for discovering agents and creating trust signals about them. + +It gives AI agents a common on-chain system for identity, reputation, and validation. Its goal is to let agents work across different organizations without pre-existing trust. + +ERC-8004 consists of three main components (or registries): + +1. Identity Registry +2. Reputation Registry +3. Validation Registry + +**Caveat:** ERC-8004 does not put a complete AI agent onchain. The agent can still run on a server, in a Trusted Execution Environment, or in another computing system. + +The blockchain stores the parts that need a common and public source of truth. + +## Decoding ERC-8004 Registries + +### Identity Registry + +The Identity Registry gives each agent a unique on-chain identity. This identity is minted as an ERC-721 NFT. + +Each registered agent gets an **agentId**. The NFT owner controls the agent identity. The owner can also transfer the identity to another owner. + +This NFT points to a JSON file, also commonly known as an **Agent Card**, which includes all the metadata about the agent, including its name, service endpoints (A2A, MCP), payable address, functionalities and more. + +### Reputation Registry + +The Reputation Registry stores feedback about an agent's past performance. + +Any client can submit feedback for a registered agentId. The agent owner and approved operators cannot review their own agent. + +Feedback can be provided in two ways: **Numerical** and **Categorical (tags)**. + +For numerical, example: + +``` +Quality = 87 / 100 +Uptime = 99.77% +Success Rate = 89% +Response Time = 560 ms +``` + +And categorical tags could be: `"uptime"`, `"month"` + +**Caveat:** ERC-8004 does not define one universal reputation score. + +It stores standardized feedback signals. Applications can decide how to filter, weight, and combine them. + +### Validation Registry + +Provides a standardised mechanism for evaluating and recording the agent's work as an onchain verifiable evidence. + +The registry stores independent checks of an agent's work. + +The registry does not check the work itself. A separate validator does the check. The registry records: What was checked, who checked it and what the result was. + +## How does ERC-8004 work? + +![Diagram of the ERC-8004 agent trust layer](./image-1.webp) + +A typical ERC-8004 flow has four stages: + +### Step 1: Register the agent + +The agent owner registers an agent in the Identity Registry, which then creates an ERC-721 token and assigns an agentId. The owner also provides an **agentURI**. + +You can track and discover ERC-8004 registered agents at: [8004scan.io](https://8004scan.io) + +### Step 2: Use the agent + +A client discovers the agent. + +The client can then call its MCP endpoint, send an A2A task, use its web service, or interact through another supported method. + +### Step 3: Add reputation + +After the interaction, the client can submit feedback to the Reputation Registry. + +As discussed in the article above, the Reputation Registry can accept feedback in both numerical and categorical forms. + +### Step 4: Validate important work + +Here the agent can ask a validator of its choice to vet its work. Validators can use different verification methods. + +For example: + +- Re-run the computation. +- Use stake-secured verification. +- Check a zkML proof. +- Check a TEE attestation. + +The validator returns a value from 0 to 100. + +A validator can use 0 for failure and 100 for success. It can also use values between them when the result is not binary. + +## What ERC-8004 does not do + +- **ERC-8004 does not define payments.** Payment systems such as x402 can work with ERC-8004, but payments remain outside the standard. +- **ERC-8004 does not replace MCP or A2A.** MCP provides access to tools and resources, whereas A2A supports communication and task coordination between agents. ERC-8004 adds discovery and trust around these systems. +- **It does not guarantee an agent's safety.** +- **Fake accounts can also try to create a false reputation.** + +## Why does it matter? + +The internet has many ways to identify people, websites, and companies. + +AI agents need a similar system. But agents also need something more. They need **machine-readable trust**. + +An agent cannot read hundreds of human reviews before every transaction. It needs structured data that software can inspect. ERC-8004 provides the foundation for this model. + +If you want to dig deeper into the AI x crypto rabbit hole, read about the [AI agent stack](https://push.org/blog/understanding-the-crypto-ai-agent-stack/) and [how agents transact onchain](https://push.org/blog/how-do-ai-agents-transact-onchain/). diff --git a/static/content/blogtags.json b/static/content/blogtags.json index d2dc07d2fd1..a1b19ec9c95 100644 --- a/static/content/blogtags.json +++ b/static/content/blogtags.json @@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ "link": "/blog/tags/key-features/", "priority": 2, "category": "Key Features", - "count": 17 + "count": 18 }, { "name": "Technical", @@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ "link": "/blog/tags/deep-dives/", "priority": 10, "category": "Deep Dives", - "count": 14 + "count": 15 }, { "name": "Push 101",