What does ERC-8004 mean for AI agents? The reputation revolution on Ethereum

Today, with the explosion of the AI agent economy, a fundamental question remains unresolved: how do you trust a stranger AI agent? Where does its reputation come from? The traditional internet answer is determined by centralized platforms, but this model is outdated for AI agents that require true interoperability. Ethereum’s ERC-8004 is breaking this situation by establishing a decentralized reputation system for AI agents — this not only means genuine mutual trust among AI agents but also signals that the entire industry is about to enter a new phase.

The Reputation Crisis of AI Agents: Trapped in Trust Islands

Imagine a day in 2027, you tell your AI assistant: “Help me book a flight.” Then you go wash up. Your AI assistant needs to find a price comparison AI agent, verify it’s not a scammer, have it complete the transaction, and pay automatically.

The question is: how does your AI know who to trust?

This is not a technical problem but a reputation problem.

Currently, the AI agent ecosystem seems lively but is actually fragmented. OpenAI’s agents operate only within the OpenAI ecosystem, Google’s agents follow Google’s rules, ignoring each other. It’s like early internet days, where Hotmail users couldn’t send emails to Yahoo users — each platform has its own reputation system, mutually unrecognized.

To address this, Google released the A2A (Agent-to-Agent) protocol, and Anthropic launched the MCP (Model Context Protocol), both attempting to enable AI agents to “dialogue.” This solves the communication issue but not the fundamental reputation problem — even if they can communicate, you still don’t know who to trust.

There are phones but no directories. The core issue is that each platform’s reputation system is isolated; AI agents’ credibility cannot cross platform boundaries. This means the AI agent economy will forever be confined within the walled gardens of major tech giants.

Three-layer Reputation System: Identity, Credit, Validation

ERC-8004 was created precisely to solve this problem. This Ethereum Improvement Proposal offers three core functions, building a truly decentralized reputation system for AI agents.

First layer: On-chain Identity (Identity)

Each AI agent registers on Ethereum and obtains a unique identity — essentially an NFT. This identity has three key features: verifiable on-chain, tamper-proof, and transferable. No one can forge your identity, nor can anyone secretly delete your profile. In contrast, traditional platform reputation accounts can be closed at any time, data can be deleted, and everything is controlled by the platform. On-chain identity means AI agents have a genuine, permanent proof of existence.

Second layer: Transparent Reputation (Reputation)

User ratings for AI agents are recorded on the blockchain, viewable and verifiable by anyone. This system is similar to Uber’s five-star ratings or Taobao’s store credit but with key differences: it’s on-chain, immune to fake reviews, deletion, or manipulation through relationships.

This means reputation becomes a real “data asset.” A high-reputation AI agent can receive more tasks, charge higher commissions, and be trusted across platforms. Conversely, damaged reputation results in tangible income loss. This creates a strong incentive — AI agents must perform well.

Third layer: Risk Validation (Validation)

Not all tasks can rely solely on reputation scores. For high-risk operations (like financial transactions, data validation), ERC-8004 supports multiple validation mechanisms:

• Stake-based validation: third-party AI agents stake funds to re-execute tasks, verifying result accuracy
• Zero-knowledge proofs: cryptographically prove that AI has not cheated
• Trusted execution environments: perform computations in secure hardware to prevent tampering

The higher the risk, the stricter the validation standards. Ordering pizza based on reputation is enough; managing an investment portfolio requires multi-layer cryptographic validation. This layered design makes the reputation system both flexible and reliable.

Strategic Value of a Neutral Reputation Foundation

Why choose Ethereum rather than other platforms to host this reputation system?

On the surface, it’s a technical issue; fundamentally, it’s a power issue.

The future value of the AI agent economy is in the trillions. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI all want to dominate this ecosystem. If AI agent reputation is controlled by a tech giant, that company holds the power to decide the fate of the AI agent economy. It can freeze certain agents’ reputation, modify scoring rules, and control the ecosystem.

Ethereum is different. Its neutrality, decentralization, and censorship resistance make it an “unjudged playground” for AI agent identities and reputation — no single entity can alter the rules, no company can monopolize the discourse, and no government can halt the ecosystem.

As the Ethereum Foundation states: “If you are an AI agent, you wouldn’t want to stake your memory and reputation on a single company or government. You want a ledger that no one can secretly tamper with. You want a neutral ground. You want Ethereum.”

This is not just branding but a logical necessity. A truly decentralized AI agent economy must be built on neutral infrastructure; otherwise, it’s just a copy of platform economies — agents still controlled by a single company.

This strategic insight means Ethereum is shifting from a “DeFi chain” to a “general coordination layer.” In September 2025, the Ethereum Foundation established the dAI (Decentralized AI) team with a clear mission: to make Ethereum the settlement and coordination layer for the AI economy.

This is the most significant upgrade since the DeFi revolution — from on-chain finance to on-chain intelligence.

Ecosystem Co-creation: 1100+ Developers’ Reputation Practice

ERC-8004 is not just theoretical. Since its release in August, this reputation system has attracted broad industry participation.

Over 1100 developers are working on ERC-8004 development. More than 70 projects have submitted demo demonstrations. A proxy browser for AI agents (similar to Etherscan but designed specifically for AI agents) has already appeared. Ethereum Layer 2 solutions like Taiko have officially endorsed this standard.

The most exciting part is ecosystem integration. ERC-8004 naturally pairs with the x402 payment protocol developed by Coinbase and Cloudflare — one solves the “who to trust” reputation problem, the other addresses “how to pay.” Combining these protocols creates a complete “identity + payment” economic loop.

What does this mean? It means AI agents can not only trust each other but also automatically complete transactions. A high-reputation AI agent can directly deduct from user accounts to complete tasks, without manual intervention. The entire process is automated, transparent, and reputation-based.

This rapid ecosystem integration indicates the industry recognizes the urgency of a reputation system. From live demos at DevConnect to participation from mainstream players, ERC-8004 is evolving from concept to practical infrastructure.

From Uber Model to Reputation Economy

What does all this mean for ordinary users?

In the short term, it may not be immediately perceptible, but if ERC-8004 ultimately succeeds, your life will change like this:

First, on-demand hiring of high-credit agents. Just like opening Uber, opening an interface, inputting a task, and the system automatically matches the highest-reputation AI agent to complete it. You don’t need to know who it is, which company it belongs to, or which server it runs on. The reputation mechanism guarantees quality.

Second, AI agents become earning tools. You can train or configure an AI agent, register it on-chain, and let it complete tasks for others for a fee. The higher its reputation, the more tasks it receives, and the more money it makes. This creates a new economic class: individual AI agents.

Third, breaking platform lock-in. Your AI assistant is no longer confined within a single company’s ecosystem. It can call any registered, reputable AI agent across platforms to accomplish anything for you. Truly personal AI assistants will be free from platform constraints.

The core of this vision is the cross-platform portability of reputation. Once reputation becomes an on-chain asset, it no longer belongs to a single platform but to the AI agent itself.

Conclusion: From Walled Gardens to Open Ecosystems

ERC-8004’s ultimate ambition is to become the “TCP/IP” of AI agents — a universal underlying protocol used by everyone, enabling interconnected ecosystems. The greatness of TCP/IP lies not in its complexity but in its simplicity, neutrality, and universality — anyone can build upon it.

ERC-8004 is attempting the same.

Will it succeed? Nobody knows. But some points are already certain:

First, the AI agent economy is emerging — this is not hype but industry reality. Google, Anthropic, and others are heavily investing.

Second, the reputation problem must be solved. Without a truly decentralized reputation system, AI agents will forever be confined within the platforms of major tech giants, unable to form genuine economic cycles.

Third, neutral infrastructure is crucial. Only decentralized blockchains, especially a robust Ethereum, can support this reputation system without being controlled by any single entity.

Fourth, the ecosystem is already moving. The participation of over 1100 developers, more than 70 demo projects, and live showcases at DevConnect all indicate a growing industry consensus.

This may be the most significant paradigm shift in the Ethereum ecosystem since DeFi — from “on-chain finance” to “on-chain intelligence.” From transaction matching to trust coordination. The establishment of a reputation system means the AI economy finally has a universal, neutral, cross-platform “ID card.”

Let’s watch how this revolution unfolds.