The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is creating a dedicated AI group to make Ethereum a reconciliation and coordinating layer for what they call “machine economy,” according to research scientist Davide Crapis.
Announced the initiative on Monday at X, Crapis said the new DAI team will pursue two priorities. It’s about building a decentralized AI stack that allows AI agents to make payments and adjustments without intermediaries and avoids relying on a small number of large companies. He said Ethereum neutrality, verifiability and censorship resistance would make it a natural foundational layer of intelligent systems.
Ethereum Foundation Background
EF is a nonprofit based in Zug, Switzerland, funding and coordinating the development of the Ethereum blockchain. Rather than controlling the network, it plays a catalytic role by supporting researchers, developers and ecosystem projects.
That remittance includes funding upgrades such as Ethereum 2.0, Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Layer-2 scaling, and community programs such as the Ecosystem Support program. The foundation also hosts events such as DevCon to promote collaboration and serves as a policy advocate for blockchain adoption.
In 2025, EF was rebuilt to handle Ethereum growth, highlighting ecosystem acceleration, founder support and enterprise outreach. The new DAI team represents the continuation of this shift towards specialized units dealing with new technology.
The role of Kurapis
Crapis is an EF research scientist and will lead a new DAI team. He said the group will link both the EF protocol group and its ecosystem support arm with its work.
“Ethereum makes AI more reliable and AI makes Ethereum more convenient,” he wrote, adding that the team intends to fund public goods and projects at the intersection of AI and blockchain.
ERC-8004 and Reliability Standards
This group is built on recent work around ERC-8004, which Crapis described as a way to prove who the AI agent is and whether it is reliable. By providing an identity and reputation system for autonomous agents, this standard aims to enable coordination without a centralized gatekeeper.
Crapis said the team will support new standards and upgrades led by Ethereum’s value and distributed acceleration “D/ACC” philosophy. The goal he described is to ensure that AI development remains open and provides humans with greater institutions than the way in which intelligent systems interact with the economy.
Why is it important?
For Ethereum, the move shows a growing ambition to lock emerging technologies beyond finance.
When AI agents begin trading at scale, demand for payment rails, reputation systems and standards that run natively on Ethereum can increase. For the AI community, the initiative provides an alternative to the centralized platform that currently controls AI infrastructure.
“The more intelligent agents trade, the more they need a neutral base layer for value and reputation,” says Crapis. “Ethereum benefits from its layers and AI by avoiding lock-in on several centralized platforms.”
According to Crapis, the team has begun hiring and publishing the resources. He said EF intends to work “with purpose and urgency” to connect AI developers with the Ethereum Ecosystem and accelerate research at the boundary between the two disciplines.
