What Is ERC-8004 Protocol? Decentralized AI Agent Identity on Ethereum

ERC-8004 is an Ethereum standard for decentralized identity and reputation for AI agents, establishing on-chain registries to enable verifiable, trustless interactions in the machine economy.

ERC-8004 Overview: Identity for Autonomous Agents

Proposed in 2025, ERC-8004 creates three core registries:

• Identity Registry: Maps agent IDs to controllers and metadata.
• Reputation Registry: Tracks agent performance via attestations.
• Verification Registry: Stores cryptographic proofs for credentials.

It allows AI agents to discover, verify, and transact without centralized intermediaries, integrating with x402 for payments and AP2 for authorization. In DeFi’s $150 billion+ TVL ecosystem, ERC-8004 ensures agents have provable histories, reducing fraud in autonomous commerce.

How ERC-8004 Works

Agents register via smart contracts, with controllers (wallets or multisigs) managing updates. Reputation accrues through on-chain attestations from oracles or peers, using ZK proofs for privacy. Verification supports standards like EAS for portable credentials. This enables:

• Discovery: Agents query registries for trusted counterparts.
• Verification: Cryptographic checks for authenticity.
• Interaction: Secure payments and data exchanges.

Key Features

• Decentralized: No single point of failure; Ethereum-anchored.
• Portable: Agents migrate across chains via bridges.
• Programmable: Smart contracts enforce reputation thresholds.
• Privacy-Preserving: ZK for selective disclosure.

These power AI-to-AI economies, from DeFi lending to RWA tokenization.

Use Cases in 2025

ERC-8004 enables:

• AI Commerce: Agents with verified reputations trade services.
• DeFi Automation: Credit scoring for autonomous borrowing.
• Prediction Markets: Reputation-weighted bets.
• Enterprise: Supply chain agents with compliance proofs.

2025 Outlook: $50B-$100B Agent Economy

ERC-8004 could underpin $50-100 billion in agent transactions by year-end, integrating with x402 and AP2. Risks include registry spam, but governance mitigates them.

In summary, ERC-8004’s identity framework secures AI agents, unlocking trustless DeFi for 2025’s machine economy.