Ethereum Blockchain to Become an Independent Verification Environment for AI Agents

Ethereum will move away from on-chain computations for neural networks to create a trust environment for autonomous programs. This was stated by Davide Krapis, head of the AI division at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), in an interview with CoinDesk at NEARCON 2026.

According to him, the widespread use of artificial intelligence systems threatens the core values of the crypto industry: user sovereignty, privacy, and resistance to censorship. Ethereum does not intend to compete with OpenAI or Google in developing language models. The goal of the developers is to prevent corporations from re-centralizing the internet's infrastructure.

The team's strategy is divided into two main areas:

Decentralized AI Coordination

Autonomous programs or agents need an environment for identification, payment exchange, and reputation building.

Resource-intensive computations will remain off-chain on traditional servers. The blockchain will serve as a public ledger without a single point of control. It will help agents find each other and transfer funds. Krapis compared this system to a decentralized version of Google reviews with integrated payments.

To implement this mechanism, the team will standardize the identification protocol for AI agents — ERC-8004. According to Krapis, this technology is already gaining popularity beyond the Ethereum ecosystem.

Data Protection

The second area has been tentatively named Props AI. Centralized AI services collect detailed profiles of individuals based on their queries. To avoid surveillance, developers propose processing data locally on users' devices.

Krapis also warned about the increasing number of cyberattacks. Neural networks will learn to convincingly impersonate people, rendering traditional passwords useless. The foundation of the new security system should be cryptographic keys with the ability for mathematical verification.

Integrating AI has become one of the key priorities for the Ethereum Foundation. Developers acknowledge that algorithms will define a new stage in the network's evolution and aim to make the blockchain a fundamental layer for smart agents.

Recall that in February, co-founder Vitalik Buterin detailed possible scenarios for the synergy between Ethereum and artificial intelligence in a comprehensive analysis.