Ethereum Set to Launch AI Agent Standard ERC-8004 on Mainnet

Ethereum is preparing to deploy ERC-8004, a new smart contract standard built for trustless AI agent interaction. Marco De Rossi, head of AI at MetaMask, said development of the standard has been frozen and the mainnet launch is expected midweek, likely Thursday at 9:00 AM ET.

De Rossi shared the update Monday in a Telegram group for protocol developers. On Tuesday, the official Ethereum X account confirmed the standard will go live on mainnet soon.

ERC-8004 does not require any changes to Ethereum’s base network. Developers can add it directly to smart contracts, making adoption simple for existing apps.

What ERC-8004 Does

ERC-8004 introduces a shared system to register, discover, and verify AI agents on chain. Its goal is to allow AI agents to find each other and interact without relying on prior trust or private agreements.

The standard focuses on two missing pieces in AI agent systems. First is discovery, meaning how agents find other agents. Second is trust, meaning how users or other agents know which ones are reliable.

Existing tools such as Model Context Protocol and Agent2Agent already handle message passing and task coordination. They do not solve identity or trust across different teams or companies. ERC-8004 fills that gap using Ethereum as a shared settlement layer.

The Ethereum account said the system allows portable reputation, so an agent’s history can move across apps and organizations.

AI Economy on Ethereum

Davide Crapis, AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation, said Ethereum is well suited to secure AI to AI interactions. He said the network can act as a neutral base where agents interact and settle actions without central control.

Developers also confirmed that ERC-8004 will work on Base, Ethereum’s layer 2 network. As of writing, Bse has not confirmed a launch date.

Base already supports x402, a payment system introduced by Coinbase in May 2025. x402 allows automatic stablecoin payments over standard web requests. This lets AI agents pay each other for services without manual steps.

Combined with ERC-8004, AI agents can now identify each other, verify reputation, and exchange payments in one flow.

The rollout of ERC-8004 marks a shift from isolated AI tools toward connected systems that operate across apps and firms. With identity, trust, and payment handled on chain, developers can build AI services that act independently in open markets.