From AI Agent to chain permission boundary: ERC-804 is changing what

With the development of applications such as DeFi, the abstract account and AI Agent, the chain authorization is being confirmed from a one-time signature to an enforcement authority that can be used repeatedly and over time. At the same time, new changes have occurred: AI Agent has started to have the capacity to request services and pay for them automatically, e.g. the x 402 protocol allows Agent to pay for resources and services in real time without manual intervention through HTTP 402 status code. This makes chain behaviour no longer a stand-alone transaction but an automated collaborative process that continues to operate。

Against this background, the issue of delegation of authority has been further amplified. The current mandate in the Web3 system remains vague and crude, often addressing the availability of assets, but it is difficult to answer what is specifically permitted and to what extent. It was in this context that the ERC-8004 was presented. It does not define new assets, nor does it change how transactions or payments are executed. Rather, it attempts to create a competency model for chain conduct that can be systematically understood and verified, so that the delegation of authority itself can be described, disciplined and manageable。

From a broader systemic perspective, ERC-804 is not a competitive relationship with automated payment agreements such as abstract accounts and x 402, but rather a division of labour at different levels: X402 addresses the question of the exchange of value after the act has occurred, while ERC-804 is concerned with who was allowed to act prior to the act and whether authority was crossed. In scenarios such as DeFi, AI Agent, and Enterprise and RWA, this authority, followed by payment, is expected to drive the delegation of authority from the asset to the behavioural level and provide a manageable basis for more complex, long-term automated collaboration. While there are still real challenges to learning costs, wallet support and user experience, ERC-8004 is not a short-term narrative tool, but a bottom standard for Web3 ability to carry complex systems。

1. DRIVERS OF PRESENTATION

AS THE CHAIN INFRASTRUCTURE EVOLVES, THE ABILITY OF THE ASSET CHAIN TO RELATE TO TRANSACTION EXECUTION CONTINUES TO BE ABSTRACTED AND STRENGTHENED. FROM ERC-20, NFT TO THE ABSTRACTION OF MULTIPLE WALLETS AND ACCOUNTS (ERC-4337), THE THRESHOLD FOR USER PARTICIPATION IN THE CHAIN IS DECREASING AND THE ACCOUNT ITSELF IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE INTELLIGENT。

In this process, however, one underlying issue has not been systematically addressed: the enabling mechanism itself has hardly evolved in substance. In early Web3, authorization means a private key signature. Users express “I agree” by signature, whether the transfer, contract call or approve operation is considered a one-time act of confirmation, and the risk boundary is entirely the responsibility of the user。

However, the chain environment has changed today. In the DeFi scenario, approve tends to be effective for a long time; in automated strategies and in the Ssession Key system, authorization will be used repeatedly; in the AI Agent or Bot mode of transaction execution, users are not even directly involved in each operation. The mandate is evolving from a one-time confirmation to an ongoing capacity for implementation, more like a transfer of authority to do something for a period of time。

The problem is that the current infrastructure of Web3 provides little clarity and uniformity of constraints to this long-term state of authorization. The vagueness of the scope of authority, the difficulty of revoking it and the unpredictability of risks have become the source of a large number of security incidents. At the same time, the paradox is further amplified by the abstraction of accounts: when the account can execute transactions automatically and be paid by a third party on behalf of Gas, what it can and cannot do becomes less clear。

It was in this context that the ERC-8004 was presented. It seeks to fill a long missing link in Web3: to create a clear, binding and systematically understood competency model for the mandate itself。

2. CORE ELEMENTS OF ERC-8004

THE ENTRY POINT FOR ERC-8004 IS NOT IN THE FORM OF ASSETS OR IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE TRANSACTION IS EXECUTED, BUT RATHER WHETHER THE AUTHORIZATION CAN BE DESCRIBED SEPARATELY, INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED AND MANAGED CONTINUOUSLY AT THE SYSTEM LEVEL。

2.1 ERC-804 WHAT IS DEFINED

According to the EIP official network definition: ERC-8004 is a standard agreement for the discovery, selection and interactive trusting of utensils in the Ether. It builds a centralized and interactive infrastructure without prior trust through a chain of registration, reputation and certification mechanisms。

Here, autonomous treaties are not limited to AI Agent, but are subjects of any act that can be authorized and implemented independently, such as contracts, automated scripts, multiple signatures or service processes. AI Agent is only one of the typical applications of the ERC-8004 concern about the ability of the executive body to clearly authorize and exercise its authority。

FROM A MORE GENERAL POINT OF VIEW, ERC-8004 IS NOT A NEW ASSET STANDARD OR TYPE OF ACCOUNT, BUT RATHER A FRAMEWORK FOR CHAIN-BASED AUTHORITY EXPRESSION AND VERIFICATION, WHICH IS USED TO DESCRIBE THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A SUBJECT IS PERMITTED TO PERFORM ACTS AND TO VERIFY THEM PRIOR TO OPERATION. THEREFORE, ERC-8004 IS CONCERNED NOT WITH “WHAT MONEY IS” OR “HOW THE TRANSACTION IS EXECUTED”, BUT WITH “WHAT ACTS ARE PERMITTED”. IT DOES NOT CREATE NEW ASSETS OR ALTER THE ATTRIBUTES OF EXISTING ASSETS, BUT ADDS A CLEAR AND VERIFIABLE RULE OF AUTHORITY OVER ASSETS AND ACCOUNTS。

IN ADDITION, ERC-8004 IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR AN ABSTRACT ACCOUNT (ERC-4337). THE ACCOUNT GIVES ABSTRACT ATTENTION TO HOW THE TRANSACTION IS EXECUTED, AND THE ERC-8004 RESOLVES THE PRE-TRANSACTION DISCRETION. IF THE ABSTRACTION OF THE ACCOUNTS MAKES THEM MORE FLEXIBLE, THE ERC-8004 SETS CLEAR BOUNDARIES FOR THIS FLEXIBILITY。

AT THE HEART OF ERC-8004 LIES THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY FROM AN ACTION IMPLIED IN THE SIGNATURE TO A SUBJECT OF AUTHORITY THAT CAN BE CLEARLY DESCRIBED, INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED AND CONTINUOUSLY MANAGED。

2.2 ERC-804 CORE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

THE CORE MECHANISM OF ERC-8004 CAN BE UNDERSTOOD AS A “COMPLEX STATEMENT OF COMPETENCE” BY PUTTING ASIDE COMPLEX TECHNOLOGIES. IN THE TRADITIONAL AUTHORIZATION LOGIC, USERS TEND TO MAKE ONLY A GENERAL DECISION: “I AGREE THAT YOU OPERATE MY ASSETS.” THE SYSTEM DOES NOT DISTINGUISH FURTHER AS TO WHAT CAN BE DONE, HOW MUCH CAN BE DONE AND HOW LONG. IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ERC-8004, HOWEVER, A SINGLE AUTHORIZATION IS NO LONGER VAGUE CONSENT, BUT IS BROKEN DOWN INTO A SET OF RULES THAT CAN BE CLEARLY DESCRIBED AND SYSTEMATICALLY ENFORCED. THIS “STATEMENT OF COMPETENCE” USUALLY CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FIVE CATEGORIES OF KEY INFORMATION。

Authorised subject (who): Who is allowed to enforce

First of all, it is clear who has been granted enforcement powers. In ERC-8004, the authorized object is no longer limited to a fixed wallet address, but can also be a contract, automation, or even a session Key for short-term operations. This allows authorization to fit more complex scenarios, such as allowing a strategic contract to operate within a limited range or allowing Agent to perform a particular task without having to sign repeatedly. It is important that the authority is always given to “a clear subject” rather than being given in vague terms。

Executable behaviour (What): What is allowed

Secondly, what acts are allowed to be carried out. Traditional mandates are often either complete or non-existent and, once authorized, they are implicitly allowed to be freely called within their purview. In the design of ERC-8004, the authorization can be precise to the specific type of conduct, for example, allowing only swap, transfer, or a certain type of function to be called, rather than by default opening all possible operations. The answer to ERC-804 is not whether it works, but where it works。

Under what conditions

THIS IS A KEY PART OF THE ERC-8004 DISTINCTION FROM TRADITIONAL MANDATES. IN STATEMENTS OF COMPETENCE, AUTHORIZATIONS ARE USUALLY ACCOMPANIED BY CLEAR LIMITATIONS, SUCH AS: A SINGLE OR CUMULATIVE MONETARY CAP; FREQUENCY OR NUMBER OF EXECUTION LIMITS; AND ONLY A SPECIFIC AGREEMENT, POOL OR CONTRACTUAL ADDRESS. THESE CONDITIONS ARE NOT EX POST FACTO RULES, BUT PRE-CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION. ONCE CONDITIONS ARE NOT ESTABLISHED, THE OPERATION ITSELF CANNOT BE CARRIED OUT。

The rules on entry into force and invalidity (Wen): When does competence come into being and when does it end

ERC-804 also introduced a clear concept of time and life cycle. The authorization may be set as: (a) valid only for a specified period of time; (b) automatically lapse after use; and (c) subject to revocation at any time. This makes the delegation of authority no longer a long-term burden to be paid off, but rather an ad hoc capacity that can be carefully managed。

How can the rules really be enforced

FINALLY, AND MOST EASILY IGNORED: HOW ARE THESE RULES IMPLEMENTED? THE CORE IDEA OF ERC-8004 IS TO VERIFY THE AUTHORITY BEFORE THE OPERATION OCCURS. IF AN ACT DID NOT MEET THE PREDEFINED RULES OF COMPETENCE, THE SYSTEM WOULD DIRECTLY REFUSE ENFORCEMENT, RATHER THAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AFTER THE PROBLEM HAD ARISEN. AND THAT'S THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ERC-8004 AND THE TRADITIONAL WIND LOGIC。

2.3 ERC-804 ADDITIONAL TYPE OF CAPABILITY: WHY NOT

ON THE FACE OF IT, ERC-8004 SIMPLY MAKES THE AUTHORIZATION MORE DETAILED, BUT THE EARLY SOLO AUTHORIZATION MODEL DOES NOT REALLY CONVEY THE COMPLEX MANDATE LOGIC. TRADITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS ONLY CHECK WHETHER AN ADDRESS IS ALLOWED TO OPERATE AND, ONCE THE AUTHORIZATION IS PASSED, WHAT CAN BE DONE, HOW MUCH AND WHEN CANNOT BE SYSTEMATICALLY IDENTIFIED。

THE CORE BREAKTHROUGH OF ERC-8004 IS THE UPGRADING OF THE MANDATE FROM “IDENTITY JUDGEMENT” TO “BEHAVIOURAL JUDGEMENT”. THE SYSTEM BEGINS TO DETERMINE WHETHER AN OPERATION MEETS THE LIMITS SET BY THE USER AND NOT JUST WHO INITIATED IT. THIS ALLOWS THE AUTHORIZATION TO NATURALLY INCLUDE CONDITIONS SUCH AS THE AMOUNT, FREQUENCY, SCOPE AND DURATION OF THE AUTHORIZATION, WITHOUT RELIANCE ON SUBSEQUENT CANCELLATION OR MANUAL MONITORING BY THE USER。

For the first time, when the delegation of authority logic was structured, it had the capacity to be combined and reusable. Multi-step, cross-agreement operations can be explicitly limited at the authorization stage, rather than being left to ad hoc judgement for implementation. That's why ERC-8004 really opens space for the Agent scene. Automation processes no longer require “infinite authorization” but are limited to clear and verifiable acts, with enforcement being refused across borders。

THE ADDITION OF ERC-8004 IS NOT SIMPLY A “SAFER MANDATE”, BUT RATHER A MANDATE LOGIC THAT IS SYSTEMATICALLY UNDERSTOOD AND IMPLEMENTED, WHICH IS FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE TRADITIONAL ENABLING MECHANISMS。

3. POTENTIAL APPLICATION DIRECTIONS FOR ERC-8004

ERC-8004 IS NOT A STANDARD DESIGNED FOR A SPECIFIC PRODUCT, BUT MORE LIKE A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF EMPOWERMENT. THUS, ITS APPLICATION VALUE IS NOT REFLECTED IN THE OUTBREAK OF A SINGLE SCENE, BUT RATHER IN THE COMMON DEMAND FOR THE SAME TYPE OF CAPACITY IN MULTIPLE SYSTEMS THAT HAVE COMPLEX MANDATES。

DeFi: From “assets-level authorization” to “act-level authorization”

In the current DeFi system, the most common form of authorization remains “one-time authorization, unlimited”. For example, in order to make a swap, a loan or a pledge, the user needs to pre-empt the contract, essentially handing over control of the asset as a whole. This is experienced as highly efficient, but the risk is intuitive: once contracts are upgraded, attacked or used in a logic that the user does not anticipate, the authorization itself becomes a risk amplifier. ERC-8004 is no longer an asset, but a specific act. For example, users can demand that I not allow this contract to use my USDC indefinitely, but that I allow it to do a swap operation in less than 1,000 USDCs within 24 hours. While some projects have attempted to limit the scope and duration of mandates, most are currently fragmented. The value of ERC-8004 is to standardize behavioural-level delegation of authority, achieve reusable, groupable authority management and fundamentally enhance risk control capabilities。

AI Agent: Provide verifiable boundaries for automated execution

As AI Agent became involved in decision-making and implementation along the chain, the issue of delegation of authority was magnified to a new level. Agent's value lies in continuous operation and automatic execution, but this also means that it must have some operational privileges for a long time. In the absence of clear permission boundaries, the so-called Agent is essentially an automated procedure with full user control and the risk is not reduced by “smart”. ERC-804 provides Agent with a system-level verifiable authorized boundary. Agent could be authorized to carry out what operations, within what scope, and whether there were time limits, and the rules could be tested before implementation, rather than relying on ex post monitoring. Automation is a credible prerequisite only if the authority itself is structured and verifiable。

Synergy with x402 protocol: allow Agent to act “enabled, settled”

In the Agent scene, another key issue beyond the mandate is how value is exchanged when the act is allowed. A number of application layer agreements are trying to address this problem, such as the x402 protocol enabling Agent to automatically complete stabilization currency payments when requesting resources or services by re-enabled HTTP 402 (Payment Required) status code. Under this structure, ERC-8004 and x402 are at different levels, but they are complementary. ERC-8004 focuses on “who can do what, whether or not to be allowed”, establishing boundaries of authority and trust for the conduct; x 402 addresses “how to complete the payment and settlement when the act occurs”. The former does not rely on the latter, nor is the latter premised on ERC-8004, but in the Agent economy, they assume the roles of the competency and payment levels, respectively. This layered collaboration has enabled Agent to complete a complete process from authorization validation to value exchange without manual intervention and has avoided the complexity of mixing identity, authorization and payment logic in the same system. These combinations are expected to become a scalable form of basic architecture as Agent increases his dynamism in content acquisition, data call and computing services。

BUSINESS AND RWA SCENE: RIGHTS ARE THE BASIC EXPRESSION OF COMPLIANCE

In enterprise applications and RWA scenarios, the value of ERC-8004 is more evident in compliance and interpretability. Asset management in the real world often requires a clear answer: who is authorized to perform what under what conditions. The definition and recording of competencies is the key to moving into a real financial system compared to whether assets are chained or not. ERC-8004 does not directly address compliance issues, but it provides bottom-up support for the structured expression of authority, giving natural possibilities for authorization to be audited, traced and validated. This capability does not change user experience immediately, but significantly reduces the cost of interface between the Web3 system and traditional organizations。

FROM THESE POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS, IT CAN BE SEEN THAT ERC-8004 IS NOT A “SCENE-DRIVEN” STANDARD, BUT RATHER A FOUNDATIONAL CAPABILITY THAT EMERGES NATURALLY AS THE COMPLEXITY OF THE AUTHORIZATION INCREASES. A CLEAR AND VERIFIABLE EXPRESSION OF AUTHORITY IS ALMOST INESCAPABLE WHEN CHAIN CONDUCT EVOLVES FROM A SINGLE OPERATION TO AN ONGOING SYSTEM ACT。

4. The challenge and long-term value of ERC-8004 & nbsp;

Real challenges

THE FIRST IS THE COST OF LEARNING. THE ERC-8004 INTRODUCES A MORE PRECISE SET OF PERMISSIONS TO DESCRIBE LOGIC THAN A SINGLE AUTHORIZATION. BOTH DEVELOPERS AND USERS NEED TO RE-UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF AUTHORIZATION IN THE SYSTEM. THIS COGNITIVE COST WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO BE ABSORBED BY THE MARKET. THE SECOND IS WALLET AND INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT. THE CAPACITY OF THE ERC-8004 CAN ONLY WORK IF THE WALLET, SDK AND THE IMPLEMENTING ENVIRONMENT ARE UNDERSTOOD AND COORDINATED. AT AN EARLY STAGE, IT IS MORE LIKE A SERVICEABLE BUT NOT UNIVERSAL CAPABILITY, WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE IMMEDIATE SCALE EFFECTS. FINALLY, THE USER EXPERIENCE. COMPLEX DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY, IF DIRECTLY EXPOSED TO USERS, ONLY INCREASES THE OPERATIONAL BURDEN. HOW TO TRANSLATE A STRUCTURED, MACHINE-VALIDATED SET OF COMPETENCE RULES INTO AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH THAT ORDINARY USERS CAN UNDERSTAND INTUITIVELY AND ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT WILL DIRECTLY DETERMINE WHETHER ERC-8004 IS LIKELY TO LAND ON A LARGE SCALE。

ERC-4008 IS NOT THE PRESENT, BUT THE NEXT STAGE

Because of these realistic thresholds, ERC-804 is not suitable as a short-term narrative tool. It will not immediately lead to an outbreak of user size, nor will it lead directly to new revenue models. ERC-8004 does not attempt to make the world faster, but rather to make the system, after complexity, manageable, interpretable and verifiable. Its value lies not in the number of functions, but rather in whether it leaves a mandate base for sustainable evolution for future automation, Agent collaboration and institutional engagement. In this sense, the ERC-8004 is not a criterion for a cycle, but is one of the bottom capabilities that determines whether Web3 can carry complex collaborative relationships。

References

1. ERC-8004: Trustless Agents: https://www.flickr.orgeIPS/eip-8004 

Othereum Improvement Products (EIPs):https://github.com/othereum/EIPs

3. ACC-4337: Accounting Using Alt Mempool:https://eips.etheum.org/EIPS/eip-4337 

4. ERC-804 website:https://www.8004.org 

5. How x 402 Works:https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/x402/core-concepts/how-it-works 

6. Welcome to x402:https://docs.x402.org/international