Trustless AI agent standard nears Ethereum launch

A new Ethereum smart contract standard enabling trustless communication between artificial intelligence agents is expected to be deployed on mainnet as early as Thursday, according to MetaMask’s head of AI Marco De Rossi.

The standard, known as ERC-8004, allows AI agents to discover, verify and interact with one another across platforms without relying on centralised intermediaries or pre-existing trust.

“Further development has been frozen and we will go to mainnet midweek, probably around Thursday, 9 AM ET,”

De Rossi said in a developer Telegram channel.

The Ethereum Foundation-backed proposal introduces a standardised way to register and validate AI agents directly onchain without requiring changes to Ethereum’s core protocol.

By enabling portable reputation and onchain discovery, the standard is designed to support open, cross-organisational AI agent economies secured and settled on Ethereum.

“Ethereum is in the unique position to be the platform that secures and settles AI-to-AI interactions,”

Said Davide Crapis, AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation.

Developers said ERC-8004 will also be compatible with Ethereum layer-2 networks such as Base, where it could combine with stablecoin payment rails to allow AI agents to autonomously transact for services.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $3,006.81.