 |
London, United Kingdom, Nov 11, 2025, When does a technology cross from a bold idea to a living system? For Ethereum, that moment may have arrived. The Ethereum Foundation has launched a new research team dedicated to artificial intelligence. Nikos Galanis, a crypto specialist at Inverest, believes this could redefine how both AI and blockchain evolve in the years ahead.
On September 15, 2025, the Foundation announced its new “dAI Team.” The group is led by a research scientist who says the mission is clear: build an AI economy on Ethereum and create a decentralized stack for developers. Simple words, big ambition.
Ethereum’s vision is to serve as the neutral ground where intelligent agents can operate. These agents are AI programs that make decisions, trade value, or interact with other agents without constant human control. As the Foundation explained, Ethereum can make AI more trustworthy, and AI in turn can make Ethereum more useful.
So why does it matter? Because right now, most AI tools sit inside the walls of a few powerful corporations. What happens when AI agents break free of that?
One of the first tasks for the dAI Team is pushing forward ERC-8004, a new technical standard. Its primary purpose is agent-to-agent communication. Imagine it as a method for AI systems to locate one another, confirm identities, and establish reputations without requesting approval from a central authority.
The Foundation plans to bring this proposal to the community later this year. If it gains traction, developers could soon have a universal toolkit for building autonomous agents on Ethereum.
Hiring is also underway. The team is looking for an AI researcher and a project manager to keep the work moving. That signals the Foundation is treating this as more than an experiment.
The timing is no accident. Ethereum activity has been climbing sharply. Industry data shows that daily smart contract calls recently hit 12 million in a single day. That is a massive number, showing how much automated activity already takes place on chain.
More telling are the trends in usage. Transactions are at record highs. Active addresses are climbing. Stablecoin transfers and DeFi volumes continue to expand. The network is not just alive, it is buzzing. And if AI agents begin transacting at scale, that activity could multiply.
So what is the real value of merging AI and blockchain? It comes down to trust. AI models are powerful but opaque. They are often controlled by companies that can change rules overnight. Decentralization flips that script.
Ethereum offers immutability, open access, and shared rules. With ERC-8004 and related tools, AI agents could operate in a space where identity, discovery, and reputation are baked into the system. No single gatekeeper decides who plays.
The Foundation describes it as a two-way street. Ethereum gives AI trust. AI gives Ethereum utility. Together, they could create a machine economy that feels less like science fiction and more like infrastructure.
Of course, nothing comes easy. Scaling remains a challenge. Security must be watertight. Reputation systems can be gamed. Agents could fake identities, launch sybil attacks, or manipulate outcomes. ERC-8004 will need to anticipate these risks.
Regulation looms too. What if an AI agent executes trades that breach securities laws? Or processes data in violation of privacy rules? Ethereum’s decentralization gives resilience but does not erase legal gray areas.
Still, innovation rarely happens in tidy conditions. The experiment must unfold in real time.
Market Perspective and Nikos Galanis’s Take
Nikos Galanis sees the move as a serious milestone. For him, Ethereum’s AI push could be as transformative as the rise of DeFi or the adoption of layer-2 scaling. If the platform succeeds in hosting autonomous agents that can transact safely and verifiably, the pull for developers and enterprises could be immense.
The market has noticed. Analysts point out that projects connected to AI and blockchain could benefit from Ethereum’s new focus. Tokens tied to decentralized AI infrastructure are already being watched closely.
ETH itself has traded with modest volatility, but sentiment around the Foundation’s new direction is shifting. Traders are watching to see whether the AI narrative adds a new layer of demand.
What happens when millions of AI agents start operating inside a decentralized network? Do they become the next wave of economic participants? Do they reshape governance, supply chains, or prediction markets? The answers are not yet clear.
What is clear is that Ethereum has placed a bet. By forming the dAI Team, supporting standards like ERC-8004, and opening the door for decentralized AI development, the Foundation is signaling where it believes the future is heading.
Whether this becomes a historic shift or another unrealized experiment will depend on execution. The technical pieces must hold. The community must adopt the tools. The wider industry must find value in letting machines and humans transact side by side.
But for now, one thing is certain: the conversation around AI and blockchain is no longer about “if.” It is about “how soon.” And Ethereum, once again, is trying to lead that conversation.
Disclaimer: This article is purely informational and doesn't offer trading or financial advice. Its content is not intended to be investment advice. We do not guarantee the validity of the information, especially when it pertains to third-party references or hyperlinks.
Copyright (c) 2025 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
