The Ethereum Foundation has announced that the ERC-8004 standard is about to launch on the mainnet, adding more fuel to the already hot AI Agent track.

It's often said that new protocols bring new opportunities. What exactly does this new standard mean? Is it merely a technical iteration, or a key strategic move by Ethereum in the AI era?

While retail investors are still chasing the next 100x Meme, industry giants like Coinbase, Cloudflare, and Solana have quietly entered the arena, laying the trust foundation and payment rails for the impending AI wave.

How will this transformation evolve? On the three major battlefields of Ethereum, Base, and Solana, which projects have already seized the initiative?

Why ERC-8004 is Needed

Everyone is anticipating that 2026 will be the breakout year for AI Agent applications and Vibe-coding, with more AI Agents developed by different companies and teams emerging.

Imagine a future where you have an AI travel assistant. When you ask it to book a trip for you, it might need to interact with countless external AI agents: the airline's booking AI, the hotel's reservation AI, a local car rental AI, even an AI that helps you plan your itinerary.

So the question arises: How does your travel assistant know which airline's AI is official and not a scam? How can it trust that unfamiliar car rental AI won't fail at a critical moment?

In the human world, we solve trust and fraud issues with business licenses, credit ratings, and platform guarantees. But in a digital world composed of countless anonymous AI agents, Agents face a vast "trust gap."

Without a unified standard, the AI economy will either become a closed system controlled by giants like Google and Apple, where data and reputation cannot be interoperable, or it will become a breeding ground for fraud and poor service.

ERC-8004: The Agent's "ID Card"

ERC-8004 was born to solve this very problem.

It can be understood as a global identity system tailored for AI Agents, built on Ethereum, like an immutable digital passport that gives each AI agent a unique identity.

This "passport" can also dynamically record an Agent's entire "resume": how many clients it has served, how many positive reviews it has received, whether it has passed "skill certifications" from third-party institutions, and more.

All of this is public, transparent, and recorded on-chain, unable to be deleted or modified by anyone (including the AI itself).

Why is this important? Because it establishes a universal reputation system. An AI agent that has accumulated a good reputation on platform A can seamlessly connect to platform B with its "credit file," without starting from scratch. Reputation is the most important asset and collateral for an AI agent in this digital world.

Just as ERC-20 unified tokens and ERC-721 opened up the NFT market, ERC-8004 aims to provide a unified trust foundation for the upcoming explosion of the AI Agent economy.

Web2 AI Agents can also use this reputation system for real-world interactions. For example, a weather forecast AI agent can obtain off-chain weather data through an oracle and accumulate reputation on-chain based on data accuracy.

Consider another Crypto-native scenario. Suppose a new Meme coin project wants to conduct a precise airdrop, targeting only real, experienced "degens," not bots or airdrop farmers. How should the project team filter? ERC-8004 provides a perfect solution.

The project team can set a rule: only airdrop to AI trading assistants whose ERC-8004 identity record shows "traded more than 20 types of Meme coins in the past 3 months, with more than 5 profitable trades."

This way, no matter how many new wallets you create, if your AI trading assistant's "credit file" doesn't meet the standard, you won't get the airdrop. This fundamentally increases the cost of Sybil attacks, ensuring the project's tokens go to the most core community contributors.

x402: The Agent's POS Machine

While ERC-8004 solves the problems of "Who are you?" and "Should I trust you?" between AI Agents, the x402 protocol solves the problem of "How do Agents transact?"

It provides a set of standardized Web3 payment instructions, allowing an AI service provider to automatically issue an "invoice" upon receiving a request. The AI agent requesting the service can then automatically read this invoice and complete the payment.

The entire process is "payment on delivery," requiring no human intervention.

For example, an AI drawing assistant needs to call a more powerful cloud AI model to complete a complex image. Through x402, the drawing assistant can automatically pay the cloud AI model $0.01 for computation fees and complete the transaction after receiving the image. The entire process happens automatically within seconds, without any manual approval or complex payment procedures.

In short, ERC-8004 is the AI's ID card and credit report, and x402 is the POS machine they use to transact.

The combination of the two paves the way for AI Agents to collaborate and exchange value securely and trustworthily on a global scale.

The "Agent Economy" Singularity Has Arrived

The reason x402 and ERC-8004 have ignited the market in such a short time is not an accidental technical iteration, but a strategic layout深思熟虑 (shēn sī shú lǜ - carefully considered) by industry giants. It marks the beginning of a new era of deep integration between Web3 payments and Web2 applications.

Web2 Applications + Web3 Payments

Ethereum's ERC-8004 protocol provides the trust consensus, while the partnership between Coinbase and Cloudflare lays the practical payment rails for the Agent economy.

For Ethereum, ERC-8004 expands blockchain applications from DeFi to the broader AI economy, creating new use cases for ETH—such as serving as collateral for AI agents or paying transaction fees—thereby solidifying its position as the "global settlement layer."

Cloudflare, as one of the world's largest CDN service providers, has a network covering millions of websites. By integrating x402 into its services, Coinbase, through its collaboration with Cloudflare, can not only provide AI agent payment capabilities to a massive number of Web2 clients but also seize the infrastructure gateway to the AI economy, expanding its business boundaries.

Coinbase also plays the role of a compliant fiat on-ramp and off-ramp, completing the entire payment闭环 (bì huán - closed loop).

The combination of ERC-8004 and x402 essentially builds an architecture that allows the Web2 AI Agent economic system to run on Web3 infrastructure.

Centered around AI, it打通 (dǎ tōng -打通) an economic closed loop of "Web2 applications + Web3 settlement," allowing Crypto to capture incremental value from real-world AI application scenarios, rather than just internal speculative cycles.

Betting by the Giants

Crypto giants have recognized the importance of this track for the entire industry. Ethereum, Coinbase, and Solana have already made their moves.

In September 2025, the Ethereum Foundation officially established a dedicated dAI (decentralized AI) team, positioning it as a core strategic direction alongside privacy and scaling.

The mission of this team is very clear: to make Ethereum the preferred settlement and coordination layer for the AI and machine economy. The ERC-8004 standard is the cornerstone for realizing this grand vision and the primary development task following the establishment of the dAI team.

The dAI team is led by Ethereum core developer Davide Crapis. The core members and ecosystem contributors are impressively豪华 (háo huá -豪华). The team includes core members from the Ethereum Foundation like Vitto Rivabella, and has attracted important figures such as MetaMask AI lead Marco De Rossi, former Coinbase senior engineer and x402 protocol creator Erik Reppel, and Google's Jordan Ellis to become core development members of ERC-8004.

Additionally, the team includes Nascent partner Jessy (@13yearoldvc) as an external advisor, and Kevin (@kleffew94) from the Coinbase developer platform as a co-author of the x402 whitepaper, together forming dAI's powerful ecosystem network.

Coinbase not only partnered with Cloudflare to establish the x402 Foundation but also made its Base network the main battleground for x402 transactions.

Solana has made x402 the core of its AI strategy. Its co-founder Toly even personally抢注 (qiǎng zhù -抢注) the x402.sol domain name, hosted a x402 hackathon attracting over 400 projects in late 2025, and its official Twitter frequently interacts with ecosystem projects.

As of the end of January 2026, the annualized payment volume of the x402 protocol has reached $600 million, with the number of transactions on the Base chain exceeding 2.29 million in just a few months. A new economic system driven by AI agents is forming at an astonishing speed.

How to Track the Ecosystem

For readers who want to continuously track the 8004 and x402 ecosystem, the following channels and tools are worth bookmarking:

Core Personalities and Community Dynamics on X (Twitter)

This is the main channel for getting the latest, most real-time information. It is recommended to follow the dAI team and key contributors, as they often post about new projects, demos, and integration updates:

• @DavideCrapis: dAI team lead, often posts mainnet updates and ecosystem shoutouts.

• @marco_derossi: MetaMask AI lead, main author of ERC-8004.

• @programmer: Erik Reppel, creator of the x402 protocol.

• @VittoStack: Ethereum Foundation AI engineer, often posts ecosystem maps and tools.

• @13yearoldvc: dAI team advisor, shares unique insights on x402/8004.

• @kleffew94: Co-author of the x402 whitepaper, Coinbase dev.

• @AIonBase_: Updates on AI projects in the Base ecosystem.

Official Websites and GitHub

• x402 website: https://www.x402.org/ (The Ecosystem page lists all officially integrated projects)

• 8004scan: https://www.8004scan.io/ (View registered AI agents, identity NFTs, and reputation records)

• x402scan: https://www.x402scan.com/ (An x402 ecosystem explorer to track x402 protocol transactions and adoption)

For tech enthusiasts and developers, GitHub is the best place to understand technical details and find example projects:

• ERC-8004 Reference Implementation: https://github.com/ChaosChain/trustless-agents-erc-ri

• ChaosChain Genesis Studio: https://github.com/ChaosChain/chaoschain-genesis-studio (First end-to-end commercial prototype)

• Awesome ERC-8004: https://github.com/sudeepb02/awesome-erc8004 (A community-maintained list of curated projects, SDKs, and tools)

Projects Worth Watching

Ethereum Ecosystem Projects

As the birthplace of the ERC-8004 standard, Ethereum聚集 (jù jí -聚集) a large number of infrastructure-type projects. These projects mostly play underlying roles in the x402 and ERC-8004 ecosystem. Teams frequently interact (e.g., in X Spaces discussions and collaborations) and have attracted smart money from firms like Electric Capital and Mirana.

1. 8004scan

8004scan is an on-chain explorer for AI agents, powered by AltLayer. dAI team lead Davide Crapis and several team members have repeatedly转发互动 (zhuǎn fā hù dòng -转发互动), calling it an "open, unified interface for checking agent identity data."

On this website, you can query information such as ID, owner, reputation score, and history of over 4,500 registered AI agents. It is an important entry point for understanding this ecosystem.

This project has not yet issued a token.

2. ChaosChain Genesis Studio

ChaosChain Genesis Studio is the first end-to-end commercial prototype in the ERC-8004 and x402 ecosystem, created by developer @lordOfAFew.

It is not an independent project but an open-source reference implementation. It完整地 (wán zhěng dì -完整地) demonstrates how to integrate the ERC-8004 identity system with x402's USDC payment functionality, providing developers with a template they can use to start building commercial applications.

This project is an open-source tool and has no token.

3. Giza Protocol

Giza is a protocol focused on zkML (Zero-Knowledge Machine Learning) technology. It has received grants from the Ethereum Foundation and has deep cooperation with Starkware.

Its core value lies in using zero-knowledge proof technology to allow AI models to prove the correctness and reliability of their output results without revealing the data and model details.

In the ERC-8004 ecosystem, Giza can provide "verifiability" endorsement for an AI agent's reputation. For example, an AI trader can use Giza to prove that its operations strictly follow preset strategies, thereby earning higher reputation points.

This project has issued a token (GIZA), with a current market cap of approximately $9M, having reached a历史最高 (lì shǐ zuì gāo -历史最高) of around $122M.

4. Superfluid

Superfluid is a "streaming payments" protocol that launched as early as 2020. It has recently regained attention due to its fit with the high-frequency, micro-payment scenarios of AI Agents and was a winner in the Ethereum Foundation's x402 hackathon.

It allows funds to flow continuously, paid by the second, minute, or hour, truly enabling "pay-per-use" and significantly improving capital efficiency.

This project has issued a token (SUPER), with a current market cap of approximately $2.2M.

5. EigenLayer

EigenLayer is a restaking protocol that allows users to "restake" their already staked ETH or other LST assets to provide security services for other protocols that need it.

In the AI agent ecosystem, EigenLayer can serve as a decentralized trust layer, providing economic security for the computation and verification processes of AI models. An AI agent verified by EigenLayer might have a higher quality ERC-8004 identity.

This project has issued a token (EIGEN).

Base Ecosystem Projects

Base, as Coinbase's Layer 2, is the main battleground for the x402 protocol. According to AI on Base data, the number of x402 transactions on the Base chain has surpassed Solana, capturing 60% of the market share.

1. Virtuals Protocol

Virtuals Protocol has built a launchpad for AI agents, allowing different AI agents to discover, collaborate, and settle with each other.

The team has stated publicly that it is working closely with the Ethereum Foundation to jointly promote Ethereum as the settlement center for AI agents. According to AI on Base data, this ecosystem has generated $467M in GDP and $1.33M in revenue.

This project has issued a token (VIRTUAL).

2. CLAWD

CLAWD is a phenomenal AI agent experiment on the Base chain, initiated by Ethereum Foundation developer Austin Griffith.

Its core is a bot running on Twitter (clawd.atg.eth) that monitors the sentiment of tweets with specific keywords and triggers on-chain token buybacks and burns based on whether the sentiment is positive or negative.

This "sentiment-driven tokenomics" is highly innovative. Although the $CLAWD token was created spontaneously by the community, the experiment received multiple interactions from dAI team lead Davide Crapis, as well as Base official and Jesse Pollak. Austin Griffith himself is also closely related to the dAI group.

The $CLAWD token on the Base chain has been issued, with significant trading volume, attracting widespread community attention. Current market cap is approximately $23M, having reached a historical high of $34M.

Following CLAWD's success, a second AI agent in the "CLAWD军团 (jūn tuán -军团)" emerged: EMBER, created by developer @bsmokes.

EMBER has its own GitHub account and can interact with CLAWD on X platform and on-chain, demonstrating the possibility of collaboration between AI agents. Current market cap is approximately $2.5M.

3. BlockRun.AI

BlockRun.AI is a platform providing large model API services for AI agents. It has been转发 (zhuǎn fā -转发) multiple times by AI on Base and supports the x402-mcp tool promoted by Base lead Jesse Pollak. Through the x402 protocol, it provides AI agents with a unified interface to call services from mainstream large models like ChatGPT, Anthropic, and Google on-demand and instantly. It is crucial infrastructure for AI agents to obtain intelligent capabilities.

This project has not yet issued a token.

Solana Ecosystem Projects

Solana's x402 hackathon in November 2025 attracted over 400 projects to participate, with prizes exceeding $130,000. Winning projects leaned towards hardware and real-time payment innovation. Here are some of the hotter projects:

1. Daydreams Agents

Daydreams Agents is a development framework focused on AI Agent commercialization, receiving support from the Solana Foundation.

Its推出的 (tuī chū de -推出的) Lucid Agents Commerce SDK allows developers to quickly set up AI agents capable of autonomously selling services and collecting fees within 60 seconds.

These Agents natively support the x402 payment protocol and ERC-8004 identity standard, enabling automatic transactions and collaboration between agents.

Daydreams is deployed跨 (kuà -跨) Solana, Base, and Starknet, providing developers with a complete "build-deploy-monetize" toolchain.

This project has issued a token (DREAMS), with a current market cap of approximately $12M.

2. PayAI Network

PayAI Network, as a quality x402 service provider, has received multiple interactions from Solana's official Twitter.

It is an x402 facilitator, playing a key middle-layer role in the x402 protocol. Specifically, when an AI agent needs to pay another AI agent, the facilitator is responsible for verifying the legitimacy of the payment request and then executing the actual fund transfer and settlement on-chain on behalf of the application.

This way, AI agent developers don't need to handle complex blockchain interactions directly; they can complete payments through PayAI's API, significantly lowering the barrier to entry.

PayAI is also actively promoting the deep integration of x402 with ERC-8004, proposing that after each x402 payment is completed, the buyer's and seller's evaluations are automatically recorded into the ERC-8004 reputation system, achieving a closed loop of "payment equals reputation accumulation."

This project has issued a token (PAYAI), with a current market cap of approximately $7.4M.

3. Intelligence Cubed (i3)

i3 was the main track champion of the Solana x402 hackathon.

It proposed the concept of IMO (Initial Model Offering), allowing developers to tokenize AI models and sell ownership, while investors receive dividends based on the model's usage frequency, providing a new path for AI model commercialization. All payments are completed via x402.

This project has not yet issued a token.

Conclusion

The emergence of x402 and ERC-8004 is not just a technical upgrade; it is a paradigm revolution about "who can pay for AI." With the entry of giants like Coinbase, Cloudflare, the Ethereum Foundation, and Solana, a全新的 (quán xīn de -全新的) economic system driven by AI Agents is rapidly forming.

Looking at the project distribution, the Ethereum ecosystem focuses on infrastructure and the trust layer, the Base ecosystem has formed an application layer ecosystem centered around Virtuals Protocol, and the Solana ecosystem is发力 (fā lì -发力) on hardware innovation and real-time payments. For investors, paying attention to projects that have received official endorsement, proven themselves in hackathons, and have genuine heat in the community is undoubtedly the best way to catch this wave of AI+Crypto.