The Ethereum Foundation is looking to make DeFi\u2019s top blockchain the settlement and coordination layer for autonomous AI agents.<\/p>\n
The Ethereum<\/a> Foundation is formally entering the artificial intelligence<\/a> race with the launch of a new unit, the \u201cdAI Team,\u201d that aims to make Ethereum the \u201cpreferred settlement and coordination layer\u201d for AI agents and the machine economy. The move comes as other networks, like NEAR Protocol<\/a> and Solana<\/a>, push similar efforts to develop blockchain-based infrastructure for the AI economy.<\/p>\n In an X post<\/a> on Monday, Sept. 15, dAI Team lead Davide Crapis, previously a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, said that the initiative will focus in two directions: First, building tools that let AI agents and bots transact and follow rules without intermediaries; Second, developing a decentralized AI stack so that future AI development doesn\u2019t depend on a small number of centralized companies.<\/p>\n Part of the effort centers on ERC-8004, a new Ethereum standard<\/a> and so-called \u201ctrust layer\u201d in the works that\u2019s meant to give AI agents something like an on-chain reputation score.<\/p>\n \u201cThis standard extends the Agent\u2011to\u2011Agent (A2A) protocol with a trust layer that allows participants to discover, choose, and interact with agents across organizational boundaries without pre\u2011existing trust,\u201d Crapis explained in a forum post describing the proposed standard.<\/p>\n With ERC-8004, instead of blindly trusting a bot, users would be able to check an agent\u2019s identity, see how it\u2019s behaved in the past, and confirm whether it meets certain requirements through registries stored on Ethereum. As Crapis added in the post, the Ethereum Foundation will work closely with the Linux Foundation and A2A ecosystem stakeholders to \u201crefine and improve the specifications of this extension.\u201d<\/p>\n Nick Johnson, lead developer at ENS, a protocol for blockchain-based domains, told The Defiant that the urgent challenge with AI is to develop \u201cdecentralised standards for agent identity and trust so autonomous systems remain accountable and interoperable.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn a future defined by AI agents transacting and collaborating on-chain, technologists must ask how signature protocols like those underpinning ENS can set the benchmarks for integrated identity and reputational transparency, rather than let centralised approaches dominate,\u201d Johnson said in comments to The Defiant.<\/p>\n By creating a dedicated team to focus on decentralized AI and the future AI agent economy, the Ethereum Foundation joins other established players already working to become the go-to network for the decentralized AI economy.<\/p>\n NEAR Protocol has branded itself \u201cthe blockchain for AI,\u201d developing frameworks like Shade Agents, which lets autonomous bots act across chains while keeping data private.<\/p>\n Alex Shevchenko, a former NEAR Protocol product manager and currently CEO of Aurora Labs, told The Defiant that there are \u201ctwo intriguing use cases for AI on blockchain,\u201d transferring value and research: <\/p>\n \u201c[T]he traditional financial system is not suited for AI agents, so there is a high chance that crypto would enable the AI economy. Another use case is AI research. At the moment, all AI research is siloed within businesses. This hinders network effects and is inefficient. Collaboration through decentralised, confidential machine learning is the way forward.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Solana is also equipping developers with an Agent Kit that allows them to plug AI models directly into DeFi<\/a> and on-chain apps, enabling AI agents to autonomously manage trades, liquidity, and other DeFi and web3 activities, including NFT<\/a> creation and lending.<\/p>\n Unlike its competitors, SingularityNET, a blockchain protocol also explicitly focused on decentralized AI, has taken the unification route<\/a>, teaming up with Fetch.ai and Ocean Protocol to launch the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance. The Alliance is a shared AI playground where the three projects pool resources and give developers a single ecosystem to deploy AI without relying on centralized players.<\/p>\nJoining the Pack<\/h2>\n