Ethereum Foundation aims for the network to serve as the trust layer for artificial intelligence.

Davide Crapis, the AI lead at the foundation, envisions the network serving as a coordination and verification layer in a world increasingly influenced by AI.

Key points:

• As AI transforms various sectors including finance and cybersecurity, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is formulating a strategy to position the second-largest blockchain within that evolving landscape.
• Rather than merging blockchains and AI at the level of pure computation, the EF envisions the network fulfilling a different function: serving as a coordination and verification layer in a world increasingly governed by AI.
• Davide Crapis, the AI lead at the EF, contends that the rationale behind this approach is both philosophical and technical.

As AI transforms various sectors including finance and cybersecurity, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) is formulating a strategy to position the second-largest blockchain within that evolving landscape.

Instead of merging blockchains and AI at the level of pure computation — a task for which Ethereum was never intended — the EF envisions the network fulfilling a different function: serving as a coordination and verification layer in a world increasingly governed by AI.

Davide Crapis, the AI lead at the EF, contends that the rationale behind this approach is both philosophical and technical. A growing portion of digital activities is being managed by AI systems, whether it be answering inquiries, executing trades, evaluating applications, or developing software. If these systems are controlled by centralized organizations, the foundational values of the crypto movement — decentralization, self-sovereignty, censorship resistance, and privacy — may diminish.

“If AI lacks the characteristics we value — self-sovereignty, censorship resistance, privacy — and we utilize AI for everything, effectively no one retains those characteristics anymore,” he shared with CoinDesk during an interview at NEARCON 2026.

In this context, Ethereum’s AI initiative is less about competing with OpenAI or Google regarding model scale and more focused on ensuring that as AI becomes the primary interface to the internet, it does not inadvertently centralize power.

The EF’s strategy is based on two main areas. The first is what Crapis refers to as decentralized AI coordination. As autonomous AI agents — software applications capable of performing tasks independently — become increasingly prevalent, they will require means to identify themselves, establish trust, and process payments. Ethereum, he asserts, is ideally positioned to offer that infrastructure.

“Ethereum operates as a public, governance-free verification layer for AI,” he stated.

Practically, this implies that the extensive computational tasks associated with AI remain off-chain, utilizing conventional servers. However, Ethereum can assist agents in discovering one another via public registries, evaluating reputation through transparent records, facilitating payments, and anchoring cryptographic proofs that validate results. Crapis compares this to a decentralized version of Google Reviews combined with payment systems.

The EF has taken part in establishing standards to formalize this ecosystem, including a protocol for agent identity and trust, known as ERC-8004. As per Crapis, these standards are gaining acceptance beyond Ethereum, indicating that the coordination layer for AI agents may become blockchain-based, even if the AI itself is not.

The second area of focus revolves around integrating Ethereum’s core principles — such as privacy, openness, censorship resistance, and security — into the realm of AI. Crapis internally refers to this initiative as “Props AI,” a shorthand for the values historically prioritized within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Privacy is a significant aspect of this discussion. Engaging with centralized AI services can gradually create detailed user profiles based on queries, usage patterns, and behaviors.

From Ethereum’s viewpoint, the challenge lies in crafting AI systems that empower users to maintain greater control over their data and identity. One strategy is to promote more AI processing to occur locally on user devices whenever feasible, minimizing the amount of information sent to centralized servers.

The overarching aim is to ensure that as AI becomes ingrained in daily digital interactions, individuals preserve meaningful control over their data and its usage, rather than relinquishing that authority entirely to large platforms.

“We aspire to establish a world where users retain as much data and authority as possible,” Crapis remarked. “We simply don’t hand it over to operators.”

Security concerns also form a foundational element of the strategy. As AI systems advance, they are likely to automate and amplify cyberattacks in ways that challenge existing defenses. Crapis predicts a near future where AI systems can convincingly mimic humans, compromising traditional authentication methods.

“We are likely to witness hacks orchestrated by AI,” he noted. “The old security frameworks falter when AI can impersonate a human.”

In such an environment, cryptographic keys may gain more significance. Control over a private key is mathematically verifiable and does not rely on human judgment. Crapis describes Ethereum’s long-term role in clear terms.

“In a world where AI is pervasive, we want Ethereum to be the platform with the secure lock,” he stated. “If I possess the keys, I maintain power.”

Crapis characterized the AI initiative that the EF is pursuing as one of several key priorities rather than the primary focus. Nonetheless, this move reflects a growing acknowledgment within the crypto sector that AI will influence the next chapter of the internet. If that future is mediated by intelligent agents rather than human clicks, the critical question becomes who governs the infrastructure those agents operate on.

Ethereum’s proposition is that even if it does not power the intelligence of AI, it can assist in regulating the environment in which that intelligence functions, anchoring identity, coordinating payments, and safeguarding user control.

Read more: Ethereum Foundation Starts New AI Team to Support Agentic Payments