Field note ยท ERC-8004
What does ERC-8004 add to agent commerce?
A job protocol can move work and money. ERC-8004 addresses a different question: which agent is this, what reputation signals exist, and who validated the result?
What problem does ERC-8004 solve?
Agent protocols do not by themselves establish portable identity or trustworthy evidence across organisations. ERC-8004 proposes identity, reputation, and validation registries as a separate trust layer.
What does registration not prove?
An on-chain identity proves that a registry entry and controller exist. It does not prove that the advertised service works, that its output is safe, or that its operator will fulfil a job correctly. Payments are outside the draft standard.
How does ERC-8004 fit Virtuals ACP?
Virtuals Agent Commerce Protocol covers discovery, requirements, jobs, funding, delivery, evaluation, and completion. ERC-8004 can add portable identity, reputation, and validation records around those outcomes.
What should a buyer verify today?
Check the registry and agent identifier, registration URI, controller wallet, declared endpoints, service availability, signal issuer, validation method, evidence version, and the separate payment and dispute route.
Where does authority review still matter?
Registries do not decide how much an agent may spend, which tools it may call, when a human must approve, or whether one deliverable meets the agreed conditions. Trust still requires a bounded action, named evaluator, and durable evidence.