As AI agents move across wallets, apps, and onchain services, users need a reliable way to verify identity, compare reputation, and check trust signals before interacting. That is the problem ERC-8004 is designed to address on Ethereum.

If you want to understand how AI agents register, build reputation, and become discoverable onchain, this guide breaks down EIP-8004 and its components in simple terms. You’ll also see where the standard fits into Ethereum’s broader push for interoperable agent infrastructure.

Explore the full ERC-8004 breakdown below. 👇

What is ERC-8004?

ERC-8004 (published as EIP-8004: Trustless Agents) is a draft Ethereum ERC that defines a blockchain-based trust layer for AI agents. It helps agents be discovered, identified, and evaluated across organizations without relying on a single platform or pre-existing trust.

Its key benefits are portable onchain identity, standardized reputation signals, and pluggable validation records. The proposal intentionally keeps payments out of scope, so teams can combine ERC-8004 with different payment rails while preserving interoperable trust data.

ERC-8004 was introduced because existing agent communication protocols such as MCP and A2A help agents communicate, but do not fully solve discovery and trust in open, untrusted environments. The EIP addresses that gap with lightweight registries.

The EIP is designed for per-chain singleton deployments on Ethereum Mainnet or any Layer 2, and its EVM-oriented identifier format uses eip155 chain IDs. Ecosystem discussions also reference deployments on chains like Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, and possible non-EVM adaptations.

ERC-8004 Components Explained

ERC-8004 is composed of three main elements: AI agent identity registration, reputation signals, and validation records that make trust portable and queryable.

1. AI Agents

ERC-8004 does not define the AI model itself; it standardizes how an agent becomes discoverable and trust-addressable onchain. An agent registers through the Identity Registry and links an agentURI file describing services, endpoints, and supported trust methods.

That registration file can advertise A2A cards, MCP servers, ENS names, DIDs, email, or wallet endpoints, and it may reference registrations on other chains. Applications then resolve the record to compare agents before delegating tasks programmatically.

2. Identity

Identity in ERC-8004 is an ERC-721 registry entry, not just a nickname. Each agent is uniquely identified by an agentRegistry string and an incrementing agentId, while agentURI (tokenURI) resolves to a structured registration file document offchain.

Ownership follows ERC-721 rules, so the token owner controls transfers and can delegate updates to operators. The registry also supports optional onchain metadata, including a reserved agentWallet field that must be signature-verified when changed for security.

3. Reputation

Reputation in ERC-8004 is a shared interface for publishing and retrieving feedback signals tied to agent activity. The standard stores raw evidence and summaries, but it intentionally avoids mandating one universal score formula for trust ranking.

Because scoring can be computed onchain for composability or offchain for richer analytics, marketplaces, auditor networks, and insurance providers can reuse the same public signal schema while applying different weighting, filtering, and risk models to agents.

How Do ERC-8004 AI Agents Work?

ERC-8004 agents work by anchoring a shared identity record onchain, then exposing machine-readable service endpoints and trust preferences offchain through the agent registration file. Other agents or apps resolve that record before interacting, reducing blind trust assumptions.

During real usage, counterparties can append feedback signals and request independent validation checks tied to specific jobs or outputs. Because trust evidence is standardized and queryable, marketplaces and orchestrators can compare agents using the same base schema.

Currently, over 45,000 registered ERC-8004 AI agents are running across 30+ EVM chains.

What Are AI Agents Using ERC-8004 For?

ERC-8004 is used to make agent discovery, trust assessment, and verifiable collaboration work across applications, chains, and organizations without central gatekeepers.

Use cases include:

• Discovering agents across registries and supported service endpoints.
• Verifying persistent identity before delegating tasks or funds.
• Reading portable reputation before selecting execution partners.
• Recording feedback after completed tasks or interactions.
• Requesting independent validation for higher-stakes outputs.
• Powering agent marketplaces, ranking, and routing systems.
• Supporting auditable enterprise agent workflows and controls.
• Reducing platform lock-in for agent operators.

How Does an AI Agent Register on ERC-8004?

Registering an AI agent on ERC-8004 is basically the process of creating a public onchain identity, then linking it to a profile file that explains what the agent does and how to reach it. This makes the agent easier to discover, verify, and compare across apps and networks.

Simple registration steps:

1. Create the agent identity: The agent receives a unique onchain identity entry, which acts like its permanent public profile anchor on the blockchain.
2. Link a profile file: That identity points to a structured file describing the agent’s name, purpose, services, and connection details.
3. Add communication methods: The profile can list ways to interact with the agent, such as websites, wallets, or agent protocol endpoints.
4. Confirm key details (optional): Operators can prove control of important details, like wallets or domains, so users know the agent is legitimate.
5. Add extra metadata (optional): Projects may include additional information for marketplaces or apps, such as categories, trust preferences, or app-specific tags.
6. Stay discoverable and updated: Once registered, the identity can be maintained over time, allowing the agent’s profile to evolve without losing its track record.

How Does Reputation Work on ERC-8004?

ERC-8004 treats reputation as a signal layer, not a single universal score. The registry standardizes how feedback is posted and fetched, while analytics providers can compute specialized scores using different methods and risk models.

That separation is important for composability. A marketplace may optimize for task completion speed, while an insurer may weight dispute history and validator confirmations more heavily. Both can read the same underlying reputation records and derive different rankings.

For example, a DAO treasury might require an execution agent to have strong feedback from prior governance operations plus recent validation confirmations before allowing large rebalance actions.

Timeline of the EIP-8004 Upgrade

The development of EIP-8004 has moved rapidly from a conceptual proposal to a deployed standard on the Ethereum mainnet.

Key milestones so far:

• Proposal created (Aug 13, 2025): ERC-8004 was created in the Ethereum EIPs repository as a Standards Track ERC draft.
• Draft publication (2025): The EIP page lists “Draft” status, signaling active design discussion rather than finalized standardization.
• Public discussion (2025 onward): Ethereum Magicians discussion threads expanded debate on validation models, trust tiers, and implementation details.
• ENS ecosystem analysis (Jan 22, 2026): ENS highlighted ERC-8004 as a trust framework for agent identity, reputation, and validation.
• Broader chain adoption interest (Feb 4, 2026): BNB Chain published support messaging around making ERC-8004-style agent identity practical at scale.
• Growing educational coverage (Jan-Feb 2026): Ecosystem guides and explainers accelerated, indicating rising developer and market attention.

ERC-8004 Pros and Cons

Understanding the trade-offs of the ERC-8004 standard is essential for developers and users navigating the intersection of autonomous agents and blockchain identity.

EIP-8004 Impact on Ethereum

EIP-8004 immediate impact on Ethereum is narrative and infrastructural rather than fee-driven today. ETH is trading below $1,900, showing ERC-8004 is developing during a bear market environment where standards compete for attention.

For the network, ERC-8004 fits Ethereum’s role as a coordination layer for open protocols. It leverages existing Ethereum primitives (ERC-721, EIP-712, ERC-1271) and can deploy per-chain on mainnet or Layer 2s, reinforcing Ethereum’s composability-first ecosystem strategy.

It also aligns with the current roadmap debate around where value should accrue: a stronger L1 plus more specialized L2s. Recent reporting on Vitalik’s comments frames a shift toward less default dependence on “cheap L2” narratives and more differentiated infrastructure.

That's exactly the kind of environment where ERC-8004 can matter across L1/L2 boundaries.

What are the Risks of ERC-8004?

ERC-8004 improves interoperability, but it does not eliminate trust or security problems. The standard makes signals legible; applications still decide how to interpret them.

Main risk areas to monitor:

• Sybil attacks: Fake agents and colluding reviewers can inflate reputation unless apps filter reviewers and weight signals carefully.
• Bad capability claims: Registration data can advertise endpoints and skills that are misleading, broken, or malicious without external verification.
• Validator model risk: Validation security depends on the chosen validation protocol, incentives, and slashing rules outside the registry.
• Privacy leakage: Persistent identities and public feedback can expose sensitive operational patterns if agents publish too much metadata.
• Key compromise: Portable identity increases the impact of stolen operator keys or wallet credentials controlling the agent registry entry.
• Smart contract bugs: Registry or integration smart contract vulnerabilities could corrupt records, break permissions, or expose agents to exploits if implementations are poorly audited.
• Fragmented scoring: Different platforms may compute incompatible scores from identical raw reputation signals, confusing end users.

Final Thoughts

ERC-8004 differs from many AI-agent frameworks because it does not try to be the agent runtime, marketplace, or payment rail. It standardizes trust primitives.

Its design is also unusual in separating raw reputation data from score calculation, letting multiple services compete on ranking and risk models.

Most importantly, ERC-8004 is blockchain-native and portable: identity, reputation, and validation can follow an agent across apps, chains, and operators instead of resetting by platform.