Ethereum is preparing to deploy a new smart contract standard, ERC-8004, aimed at enabling AI agents to discover and verify each other directly on-chain. Development is frozen and mainnet deployment is expected around Thursday at 9 AM ET. While ETH price action has been mixed, it recently traded near $3,025, with aggregated Open Interest recovering to roughly $17.05 billion.
Ethereum is preparing for an important upgrade with ERC-8004, a new standard aimed at helping AI agents interact and verify each other directly on-chain. The idea is to bring developers, activity, and eventually capital back to Ethereum’s mainnet.
ERC-8004 is set to be out soon as a new smart contract standard designed to help AI agents discover and trust each other on-chain. According to Marco De Rossi, head of AI at MetaMask, development on the standard has now been frozen, with mainnet deployment expected midweek.
That timeline lines up with Ethereum’s official X account, which confirmed the protocol is going live “soon.” The post also said, “This unlocks a global market where AI services can interoperate without gatekeepers.”
ERC-8004 does not require any changes to Ethereum’s core network. Instead, it gives developers a standardized way to register and validate AI agents within smart contracts.
Ethereum’s price action over the past few days has been held back, but optimistic. At press time, ETH traded near $3,025, up marginally on the day after rebounding from a dip toward the $2,900 zone earlier in the week.
That bounce came with a noticeable pickup in volume, so buyers stepped in on weakness. Pace is mixed, with the RSI not in overbought territory and lacking strong bullish pressure.
Aggregated Open Interest climbed to roughly $17.05 billion, recovering from recent lows. It appears traders are rebuilding positions, but without aggressive leverage.
ERC-8004 will make the mainnet the settlement layer for an emerging AI agent economy. At press time, ETH price was steady near $3,025 with over $17 billion in Open Interest.
