ERC-8004 is an Ethereum-based standard designed to create a cross-platform, verifiable identity, reputation, and verification system for AI agents, enabling them to become trustworthy economic participants.

It aims to build a decentralized trust layer that supports agent-to-agent and person-to-agent economies, enabling cross-platform discovery, hiring, and microtransactions within Ethereum.

The standard introduces registries for identity and reputation to support trustless interactions between AI services.

A caveat notes that centralization of service registries could pose censorship and data vulnerability risks, reinforcing the push for decentralized discovery under ERC-8004.

The vision includes specialized multi-agent systems, broader cross-chain adoption, and ongoing development of reputation and validation infrastructures to sustain trust in decentralized commerce.

Verification registration provides authoritative endorsements for high-risk tasks via third-party verification nodes and methods (zk proofs, TEEs, cryptoeconomic penalties); this registry has not yet been deployed on Ethereum mainnet.

Central to the system are identity and validation registries, featuring cryptographic proof of identity and passport-like agent registration files to prevent manipulation and raise assurance for critical tasks.

X402 is highlighted as a major upgrade, tying payments directly to requests and enabling streamlined on-chain/off-chain interactions.

Decentralized watchtowers and recommendation systems would measure service performance, post metrics on-chain, and deter information manipulation.

Community engagement and developer resources (such as 8004.org) are emphasized as essential for uptake and impact.

Key ecosystem components include browser/index tools (8004scan, Agentscan, 8004agents, trust8004), storage providers (Filecoin Pin, Pinata), and development/verification projects (e.g., EigenCloud, Phala Network, WachAI), plus identity initiatives (ENS) and orchestration tools (Warden, Questflow, SANTA, OpenServ, AWE, Ampersend, 0xGasless, Heurist).

The core design rests on three on-chain singleton registries: agent identity (NFT-based Agent IDs), reputation (permanent performance records), and verification (third-party endorsements or oracles, with advanced methods like zkML and TEEs).