Ethereum AI team: the Ethereum Foundation has launched a dAI research team led by Davide Crapis to build a decentralized AI stack and an AI economy on Ethereum, enabling trustworthy AI agents and neutral on-chain settlement for autonomous actors.
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New dAI research team led by Davide Crapis to build a decentralized AI stack on Ethereum
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The team will support projects, extend ERC-8004 agent-to-agent protocols, and hire an AI researcher and project manager.
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Ethereum smart contract activity reached ~12 million daily calls (CryptoQuant), underscoring on-chain settlement potential.
Ethereum AI team: Ethereum Foundation launches dAI research team to build a decentralized AI stack and AI economy—learn how developers and AI agents benefit.
Ethereum Foundation announced a new AI-focused dAI research team led by Davide Crapis to create an AI economy on Ethereum and a decentralized AI stack for developers.
What is the Ethereum AI team?
Ethereum AI team refers to the Ethereum Foundation’s new dAI research group, established to develop a decentralized AI stack, promote agent-to-agent protocols like ERC-8004, and foster projects that integrate AI agents with Ethereum’s neutral settlement layer.
How will the dAI team support developers and projects?
The dAI team will fund and advise projects building tools, libraries, and standards that let developers deploy trustworthy AI agents on Ethereum. Work includes extending ERC-8004 for discovery and interaction, building identity and reputation primitives, and operational support via hires for research and project management.
Davide Crapis, an Ethereum Foundation research scientist, said the initiative aims to blend blockchain’s censorship-resistant traits with AI capabilities. “Ethereum makes AI more trustworthy, and AI makes Ethereum more useful,” Crapis wrote on X, stressing that intelligent agents need a neutral base layer for value and reputation.
The Foundation will initially staff the dAI team and is actively recruiting for an AI researcher and a project manager to coordinate research and ecosystem efforts.
Why does Ethereum matter for AI agents?
Ethereum provides immutability, programmable settlement and public identity primitives that can reduce single-vendor lock-in for AI. On-chain settlement enables transparent value exchange between autonomous agents while smart contracts enforce outcomes.
Blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant reported Ethereum daily smart contract calls reached approximately 12 million on Thursday, highlighting the network’s scale as a programmable settlement layer. CryptoQuant noted that network activity, transactions, and active addresses are at record highs, driven by DeFi, stablecoins, and token activity.
What is ERC-8004 and how does it relate?
ERC-8004 is a proposal authored by Davide Crapis, Marco De Rossi and Jordan Ellis to create an agent-to-agent (A2A) protocol. The dAI team plans to continue and expand work on ERC-8004 as a trust layer for discovering and interacting with AI agents on-chain.
AI agents—programs that act autonomously with minimal human input—can use blockchains with smart contracts as a platform for executing transactions and maintaining verifiable reputation. Multiple Web3 projects and organizations are exploring this convergence, including decentralized AI initiatives and AI-driven blockchains announced in 2024-2025.
Plain text mentions of relevant organizations and projects: Matchain, KiteAI, CryptoQuant, Kamino Finance, and statements from Arunkumar Krishnakumar on AI agents and blockchain convergence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the Ethereum Foundation’s dAI team?
Davide Crapis, an Ethereum Foundation research scientist, leads the new dAI team focused on building a decentralized AI stack and promoting ERC-8004 development.
Will the Ethereum AI team fund external projects?
The Foundation will support projects aligned with its mission to integrate AI and humans on Ethereum, providing research, coordination, and staffing resources to accelerate ecosystem work.
How do AI agents interact with Ethereum?
AI agents interact with Ethereum via smart contracts and protocols that enable discovery, settlements, and reputation tracking—ERC-8004 aims to standardize A2A interactions.
Key Takeaways
- New dAI team: The Ethereum Foundation created a dedicated AI research team led by Davide Crapis.
- Developer focus: Work centers on a decentralized AI stack, ERC-8004, and tooling for agent discovery and reputation.
- On-chain scale: High smart contract activity (≈12M daily calls per CryptoQuant) highlights Ethereum as a settlement layer for AI agents.
Conclusion
The Ethereum AI team establishes a formal research and support channel to unite blockchain and AI development, positioning Ethereum as a neutral foundation for autonomous agents. Expect continued ERC-8004 development, new developer tooling, and ecosystem hires as the dAI team operationalizes this vision. For updates, see COINOTAG coverage and official Ethereum Foundation announcements.
