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AI Agents Are Taking Over Crypto? Ethereum Surpasses 72,000 Registered AI Agents!
Imagine you're sleeping while an AI agent works on your behalf—finding jobs, negotiating with other AI agents, purchasing services, and even making payments. All without human intervention.
Sounds like something from the future, right?
But in the crypto world, the infrastructure for this is already being built.
However, one important question remains: AI agents are being registered on the blockchain, but are they actually conducting transactions?
Over 72,000 AI Agents Registered on Ethereum
According to a Coinotag report published on October 25, the number of AI agents registered on Ethereum under the ERC-8004 standard has reached 72,028.
On May 13, that number stood at just 32,343. This means registrations have more than doubled in approximately five months.
But What Exactly Is ERC-8004?
Simply put, ERC-8004 is a standard that allows AI agents to register their identities on the blockchain.
Other systems can then discover information about an agent's identity, capabilities, and reputation.
In the future, this infrastructure could help AI agents verify the trustworthiness of other agents before deciding to work with them.
For example, imagine your AI agent needs to hire another AI agent to complete a specific task.
Instead of blindly trusting its claims, your agent could verify its identity and review feedback from previous work.
However, registering an identity and actually performing economic activities are two very different things.
Are AI Agents Really Buying Things With Crypto?
To answer this question, we need to look beyond registration numbers.
We must examine whether software is actually purchasing services, making payments, and whether AI agents are genuinely behind those transactions.
This is where research from TRM Labs becomes particularly important.
In a study published on September 9, TRM Labs analyzed approximately 198.9 million settlement transactions conducted through the x402 payment protocol across Base, Solana, and Polygon.
The total transaction value was approximately $52.7 million.
What Is x402?
x402 is a payment protocol that allows software to pay directly for internet services.
For example, an AI agent could retrieve information from an API and automatically pay a small amount of stablecoin for that data—without requiring a human to manually complete checkout each time.
But TRM Labs discovered something important.
Not every transaction made through x402 can be classified as AI-agent-driven commerce.
Why?
Because ordinary automated scripts can use the same payment protocol.
Just because software repeatedly pays for a service does not necessarily mean an AI system is making independent decisions.
Researchers excluded self-payments, suspiciously concentrated transactions, and sellers with very few buyers.
After applying these filters, they identified approximately $25.62 million in potential commerce activity.
However, according to their analytical model, only 0.6% to 7.5% of that transaction value was considered potentially attributable to AI-agent activity.
Importantly, this is an estimate—not a directly verified figure.
The researchers themselves acknowledged that blockchain transaction data cannot always distinguish between payments made by AI agents and those made by conventional automation.
Why Are Crypto and AI Coming Together?
This is where things become particularly interesting.
If an AI agent wants to independently purchase services, hire other agents, or make payments, it needs a payment system that software can access and operate continuously.
Blockchain networks and stablecoins could provide that infrastructure.
Meanwhile, standards such as ERC-8004 are helping establish systems for verifying agent identities and reputations.
In other words:
ERC-8004: Helps AI agents establish identities and build verifiable reputations.
x402: Enables software-driven payments for online services.
Blockchain and stablecoins: Provide infrastructure for transferring value digitally.
Together, these technologies could help create an economy in which AI agents interact and transact with one another.
However, these are still separate components.
ERC-8004 does not process payments itself.
And simply registering an AI agent does not prove that it is earning money, purchasing services, or independently operating a business.
The Future of Business or Just Another Crypto Hype Cycle?
Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin believes AI and crypto will become increasingly interconnected.
AI could perform tasks, while blockchain technology could provide the infrastructure for identity, trust, and payments.
The concept is promising.
However, current data suggests that growth in AI-agent registrations does not necessarily translate into growth in real economic activity.
The real transformation will become visible when AI agents consistently purchase services, pay other agents, and generate sustained growth in verifiable economic transactions.
Until then, the industry needs to distinguish between technological potential and measurable adoption.
What's Your Opinion?
Will AI agents eventually use cryptocurrency to shop, negotiate, and run businesses independently on behalf of humans?
Or is the AI-powered crypto economy still more hype than reality?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Sources: Coinotag, TRM Labs, Decrypt.
Disclaimer: This article is an informational report about cryptocurrency and AI technology. It does not constitute investment advice.
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