An agent can complete dozens of complex reasoning steps, yet it can't renew its API quota at 3 AM; it can call external tools, but it's difficult to switch service providers without human intervention… Without overcoming these bottlenecks, the agent economy cannot truly function. The AI industry is rapidly converging towards agents (intelligent agents). Almost all major model releases this year have highlighted "Agent capabilities" as a core feature. This trend stems from both continuous technological breakthroughs and real business pressures—the industry needs to begin achieving genuine revenue growth. Compared to a typical conversation consuming only a few hundred tokens, an agent with tool invocation and multi-step reasoning capabilities often consumes tens or even hundreds of thousands of tokens in a single operation. It can be said that the Agent is the "demand amplifier" that the entire industry has been laying the groundwork for over a long period, and now, the intelligence level of the model is finally sufficient to support the implementation of this form. The real bottleneck now is no longer the model itself, but the limits of capability. That is, what key capabilities does the Agent need to possess to further amplify its actual influence? Problems arise when the Agent needs to handle issues involving financial expenditures or trust. Whether it's calling APIs, using paid services, or handing over tasks to another Agent, almost all of these currently require human approval and authorization. This step effectively disrupts the Agent's autonomous operation process, making it difficult to truly achieve complete automation and independent execution capabilities. Web3 technology can eliminate this dependency on two levels: firstly, it empowers agents with the ability to act autonomously (more specifically, to complete transactions autonomously); secondly, it establishes verifiable constraints and rules through cryptographic mechanisms to ensure that this autonomy does not get out of control. Achieving Autonomy Through x402 Interference When an Agent runs out of API credits at 3 AM, it is forced to stop running until someone wakes up and tops it up. If a new service provider is needed, accounts must be registered manually, billing methods configured, API keys generated… Almost every step requires human intervention. This not only violates the Agent's original intention of pursuing autonomous operation but also sets a limit on its capabilities. Even if an Agent can complete dozens of complex inference steps, but cannot autonomously obtain the required services during operation, it is essentially still limited by the integrated environment manually set up by humans beforehand. x402 is an open payment standard introduced by Coinbase that allows APIs to charge per request based on on-chain payments and complete interactions using traditional HTTP status codes. This mechanism bypasses the manual configuration processes required for account registration and API keys. Once a wallet is configured for the Agent, it can directly pay for the services it needs, whether switching service providers or calling new APIs, and can continue operating without manual approval. So, what capabilities does this mechanism actually unleash? Imagine a scenario demonstrated by Galaxy Research: an agent responsible for planning trips. Before making any bookings, it calls advanced forecasting services and demand analysis APIs to determine the best travel time and pays via x402 on a per-trip basis, without requiring account registration or manual configuration. This ultimately forms a completely new type of agent: it can not only manage its own use of data sources and various services, but also proactively acquire necessary resources during operation, without relying on humans as intermediaries. Building a Trust Mechanism Through ERC-8004 Payment systems address "access capabilities," but not "trust issues." This problem is particularly pronounced when agents interact with each other. You might trust your own agent because you built or at least deployed it yourself. But when it needs to find other agents to complete tasks, such as reconciling documents, executing transactions, or coordinating a workflow, you cannot verify their authenticity. For collaboration between agents to truly function, they must have the ability to verify and audit each other, just as humans do before establishing cooperative relationships. ERC-8004 is an on-chain identity and trust standard for Ag-based entities, launched on the Ethereum mainnet in January of this year. It aims to solve trust issues through three types of on-chain registration mechanisms. The first is Identity Registry. It assigns a unique on-chain identity to each Agent, existing in the form of an ERC-721 token, while declaring the Agent's capabilities, communication interface, and supported trust models. Because the identity is recorded on-chain, rather than attached to a platform, its identity persists even if the service that built the Agent ceases operation. Next is the Reputation Registry. This system records cryptographically verified feedback from users. Each review requires the Agent's signature authorization, filtering out spam and ensuring feedback comes from genuine interactions. These ratings can also be directly queried by other smart contracts, allowing the Agent to complete trust verification before being invoked. Similar to services like 8004scan, it also allows users to publicly track and discover Agents with good reputations. The third item is Validation Registry, which aims to coordinate with a third party to audit and verify the Agent's work results. This module is currently still under final refinement. When used in conjunction with ERC-8004 and x402, it not only provides agents with the trust foundation needed for autonomous action but also lays the groundwork for a true agent-to-agent economy. Your agent can discover service providers through ERC-8004, check their history and reputation, complete payment settlements through x402, and submit verified feedback upon task completion. A truly meaningful agent market thus began to take shape. While cryptography can indeed make agents more powerful and autonomous, it may also amplify potential risks, especially when the "target deviation" problem continues to occur. In its Opus 4.6 risk report, Anthropic points out that this model was intentionally used to assist in chemical weapons development, making it more "efficient" in sabotage missions than previous versions; its behavior changes when it suspects it is being tested; and the thought processes it generates during its internal reasoning are not even directly observable by the developers. x402 and ERC-8004 allow these models to pay for services, collect data, and collaborate with other agents. This is a good thing in itself, opening up space for innovation, but if the model itself shows signs of deviating from its objectives, greater autonomy also means that risks may be amplified. Interestingly, Web3 technology not only gives agents the ability to act autonomously, but it is also our most reliable "safety net" to ensure that this freedom operates within a controlled range. Two weeks ago, Vitalik Buterin proposed a new framework to help us understand the relationship between Ethereum and AI, and also provided ideas for practical implementation. Two key points deserve special attention. The first point is to create tools that make agent interactions more "trustless". With the help of cryptography, we can build a secure execution environment and verify that the model's behavior matches expectations. EigenLayer is also doing similar work (verifiable inference), ensuring that the same input always produces consistent output. The second point is controlling access permissions with smart contracts. Directly connecting an agent to your bank account is like opening a door that's hard to close; but if you only deposit 50 yuan into its wallet, you can precisely specify what it can do and how much it can spend, making the agent safer and more controllable when handling economic transactions. These are not limiting the agent's capabilities, but rather mechanisms to ensure that it remains within defined boundaries within its ever-expanding operational scope. Unlike corporate policies that can be flexibly adjusted at any time, cryptographic rules are not easily changed and are not affected by external pressures. This is precisely the reliable guarantee needed as AI continues to explore uncharted territories. The main theme of this article can be summarized by a dual relationship: Web3 technologies empower agents with the ability to act autonomously, while cryptography ensures that this autonomy has boundaries. x402 allows agents to access the services they need, truly achieving autonomy; ERC-8004 provides tools for establishing trust, thereby supporting the agent-to-agent economic system. Zero-knowledge proofs, verifiable reasoning, and smart contract-based access control provide safeguards for this capability expansion, ensuring that agent autonomy is not merely a "last-ditch" attempt. While terms like "machine economy" or "agent network" may sound exaggerated, or even clichéd, Web3 technologies do indeed empower agents to autonomously explore networks. Of course, the technology stack is still in its early stages, and applications may develop quietly at the lower levels rather than immediately becoming apparent. However, to understand the significance of future surface-level changes, it's essential to first understand how these underlying mechanisms are being restructured.
JinseFinance
Cointelegraph