ETHEREUM’S NEW AI AGENT STANDARD: Ethereum developers are preparing to roll out ERC-8004, a new standard designed to help software agents find each other, prove who they are and decide who to trust when they operate across different systems. The proposal introduces a simple idea: If AI agents are going to transact, coordinate and execute tasks autonomously, they need persistent identities and a shared way to build credibility — much like users, wallets or smart contracts do today. It comes as large companies race to deploy AI agents internally. Most systems still rely on closed identity lists, API keys or bilateral trust agreements. That works inside a firm, but breaks down once agents need to coordinate across vendors, chains or jurisdictions. ERC-8004 defines three lightweight registries that can live on Ethereum mainnet or layer-2 networks. The first is an identity registry, which assigns each agent a unique on-chain identifier using an ERC-721-style token. That identifier points to a registration file describing what the agent does, how to reach it and which protocols it supports. Ownership of the identifier can be transferred, delegated or updated, giving agents portable, censorship-resistant identities. The second is a reputation registry, where clients — human or machine — can submit structured feedback about an agent’s performance. The registry stores raw signals on-chain, while allowing more complex scoring and filtering to happen off-chain. The goal isn’t to rank agents directly but to make reputation data public and reusable across applications. The third is a validation registry, which lets agents request independent checks of their work. Validators could include staked services, machine learning proofs, trusted hardware or other verification systems. These results are stored on the blockchain so other users can see what was checked and by whom. — *Shaurya Malwa *Read more.

**SOLANA’S LATEST PHASE IS FOCUSED ON BUILDING: **Solana’s latest phase looks a lot less flashy than its memecoin-fueled highs, and that may be the goal. Armani Ferrante, CEO of crypto exchange Backpack, told CoinDesk in an interview the Solana ecosystem has spent the past year doubling down on a more sober focus: financial infrastructure. After years of experimentation as the wider crypto industry focused on NFTs, games and social tokens, attention is now shifting back toward decentralized finance, trading and payments. “People are really starting to think about blockchains as a new kind of financial infrastructure,” Ferrante, who will be speaking atCoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference next month, said. “It’s less about NFTs, less about random moonshot-like games, and much more about finance.” That shift has made Solana feel dull to some outside observers, but Ferrante framed it as a sign of maturity. The network is increasingly positioning itself around high-throughput onchain trading, market structure and settlement, what some have dubbed as “internet capital markets.”The pivot comes amid a stark divide between crypto sentiment and traditional finance. While crypto prices remain subdued and crypto-native investors remain cautious, Ferrante said institutional interest has rarely been stronger. “If you ask anyone on Wall Street, they’ve never been more bullish,” he said, pointing to growing momentum around tokenization, stablecoins and onchain settlement.— *Margaux Nijkerk *Read more.