The Protocol: Ethereum is set to introduce a new standard for AI agents shortly.

Plus: Solana’s new phase, OP token repurchases, and EF’s post-quantum security initiative.

Key highlights:

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly summary of the most significant developments in cryptocurrency technology. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.

In this edition:

• Ethereum introduces new guidelines to enhance the trustworthiness of AI agents
• Solana’s recent phase is “far more about finance,” asserts Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante
• Optimism community initiates voting on OP token repurchases
• Ethereum Foundation prioritizes post-quantum security with a newly formed team

Network Updates

ETHEREUM’S NEW AI AGENT STANDARD: Ethereum developers are gearing up to introduce ERC-8004, a new standard aimed at assisting software agents in locating one another, verifying their identities, and determining who to trust while functioning across various systems. The proposal puts forth a straightforward concept: for AI agents to autonomously transact, coordinate, and perform tasks, they require persistent identities and a unified method to establish credibility—similar to how users, wallets, or smart contracts operate today. This initiative emerges as major corporations race to implement AI agents internally. Most systems still depend on closed identity lists, API keys, or bilateral trust agreements. This approach works well within a corporation but falters when agents must collaborate across vendors, chains, or jurisdictions. ERC-8004 specifies three lightweight registries that can exist on Ethereum’s mainnet or layer-2 networks. The first is an identity registry, which assigns each agent a unique on-chain identifier using an ERC-721-style token. This identifier links to a registration file detailing the agent’s functions, how to contact it, and which protocols it supports. Ownership of the identifier can be transferred, delegated, or revised, granting agents portable, censorship-resistant identities. The second is a reputation registry, where clients—whether human or machine—can provide structured feedback regarding an agent’s performance. This registry stores raw signals on-chain, while allowing more intricate scoring and filtering to occur off-chain. The objective isn’t to rank agents directly but to render reputation data public and reusable across applications. The third is a validation registry, which enables agents to request independent verifications of their work. Validators may encompass staked services, machine learning proofs, trusted hardware, or other verification systems. These results are recorded on the blockchain so that other users can see what was verified and by whom. — Shaurya Malwa Read more.

SOLANA’S LATEST PHASE IS CENTERED ON DEVELOPMENT: Solana’s recent phase appears considerably less glamorous than its memecoin-driven peaks, and that might be intentional. Armani Ferrante, CEO of crypto exchange Backpack, shared with CoinDesk in an interview that the Solana ecosystem has spent the past year reinforcing a more pragmatic focus: financial infrastructure. Following years of experimentation while the broader crypto industry concentrated on NFTs, games, and social tokens, the emphasis is now returning to decentralized finance, trading, and payments. “People are genuinely beginning to view blockchains as a new form of financial infrastructure,” Ferrante, who will be presenting at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference next month, explained. “It’s less about NFTs, less about arbitrary moonshot-like games, and considerably more about finance.” This transition has caused Solana to seem uneventful to some external observers, but Ferrante portrayed it as an indication of maturity. The network is increasingly aligning itself with high-throughput on-chain trading, market structure, and settlement, which some have referred to as “internet capital markets.” This shift occurs amidst a stark contrast between crypto sentiment and traditional finance. While crypto prices remain lackluster and crypto-native investors remain cautious, Ferrante noted that institutional interest has seldom been stronger. “If you ask anyone on Wall Street, they’ve never been more optimistic,” he stated, referencing the increasing momentum around tokenization, stablecoins, and on-chain settlement.— Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

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OPTIMISM COMMENCES VOTING ON OP TOKEN REPURCHASES: The Optimism community has initiated voting on a governance proposal that would more closely tie the value of the OP token to the economic performance of the Superchain, an expanding network of Ethereum layer-2 blockchains developed using the OP Stack. If approved, the initiative proposed by the Optimism Foundation will allocate half of the ether revenue generated by the Superchain sequencer to monthly repurchases of the OP token over an initial period of 12 months. The foundation stated that this plan signifies a notable evolution for OP, which has mainly served as a governance token, and anticipates it will lead to a structural demand for OP. “Every transaction across every OP Chain broadens the base from which buybacks operate,” the proposal states, positioning OP as a token increasingly aligned with network utilization alongside its governance function. Voting commenced last week, and members have 6 days to cast their votes on the proposal. — Margaux Nijkerk Read more.

EF PRIORITIZES POST QUANTUM COMPUTING: The Ethereum Foundation (EF), a nonprofit entity that supports Ethereum’s advancement, is transitioning its long-standing post-quantum research into a public engineering initiative, forming a dedicated “Post Quantum” team and designating the effort as a top strategic priority for the network. EF researcher Justin Drake mentioned that the new group will be led by researcher Thomas Coratger, whom Drake characterized as a key contributor behind “leanVM.” Drake described leanVM as a fundamental aspect of Ethereum’s overarching strategy for post-quantum security, arguing that timelines are accelerating and that Ethereum should progress into a build phase rather than keep efforts in the background. This announcement arrives as crypto markets have become increasingly sensitive to quantum risk reports, even if the actual threat remains a longer-term concern. Quantum computing employs new types of processors that could potentially break today’s encryption much more rapidly than conventional computers. Blockchain developers are apprehensive that it could eventually compromise wallet keys, necessitating networks to upgrade cryptography well before that risk materializes. The more significant challenge for large networks is not a singular breakthrough moment but the duration required to implement a secure transition, update wallets, and migrate users to new formats without disrupting daily operations. Drake outlined several immediate steps. A biweekly developer session centered on post-quantum transactions is anticipated to commence next month, led by Antonio Sanso. The agenda will focus on user-facing defenses, incorporating dedicated cryptographic tools within the protocol, account abstraction paths, and long-term efforts to aggregate transaction signatures using leanVM. – Shaurya Malwa Read more.

In Other Updates

• Tether, the organization behind the world’s largest stablecoin, has been acquiring physical gold at a rate of up to two tons weekly as it amasses one of the largest bullion reserves globally. The company’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, informed Bloomberg that Tether plans to maintain this purchasing pace for at least the upcoming months. At current prices, that totals over $1 billion in acquisitions each month. The gold is stored in a highly secure former nuclear bunker in Switzerland, which Ardoino described as “a James Bond kind of place.” Tether’s gold reserves now amount to approximately 140 tons, valued at an estimated $24 billion, positioning it among the largest known holders of gold beyond governments, central banks, and major ETFs. A significant portion of that gold constitutes the company’s own reserves, while some backs its gold-backed stablecoin, which currently has a market capitalization of $2.7 billion according to CoinGecko. — Francisco Rodrigues Read more.
• Stablecoins are evolving beyond crypto experimentation and into a reliable financial infrastructure, according to OKX, as it announced the launch of a new debit card in Europe. “Momentum is rapidly increasing,” Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, stated to CoinDesk. “Regulators are establishing real frameworks, major banks are not only taking them seriously for payments and settlements but are also engaging in industry-wide EU initiatives to become issuers, and everyday users are opting for quicker, cheaper digital payments.” European regulators have accelerated this trend through the implementation of the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework, which consolidates stablecoin issuers and crypto service providers under a unified, bloc-wide regulatory regime. Ghoos’s remarks coincided with OKX’s announcement of a new crypto payments card in Europe, enabling users to spend stablecoins directly at merchants that accept Mastercard. The OKX Card connects self-custody wallets with real-world payments, offering fee-free spending, although a 0.4% market spread applies at the conversion point, along with crypto rewards. Unlike most crypto cards that necessitate manual conversions or preloaded funds, the OKX Card allows users to pay with stablecoins held in their wallets. The assets are converted only at the time of purchase. Users can earn crypto rewards of up to 20% during a limited promotional period. — Olivier Acuna Read more.

Regulatory and Policy

• The digital asset market is facing a crucial juncture, as noted by crypto asset management firm Bitwise. In a blog post, the investment manager cautioned that the delay of the Clarity Act in Congress could transition the market from a speculative bull run into a challenging “show me” phase. The Senate Agriculture Committee has postponed its crypto market structure markup hearing from today to Thursday, citing the winter storm that affected much of the U.S. over the weekend. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan emphasized that the Clarity Act is vital for solidifying the current pro-crypto regulatory landscape into permanent legislation. Without it, the industry remains susceptible to the whims of future administrations. Hougan pointed out that market sentiment regarding the bill’s chances of passing has worsened recently. While Polymarket traders in early January estimated an 80% likelihood of the bill’s passage, those odds have now fallen to around 50% after figures such as Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong declared the current draft unworkable. Armstrong stated that his firm withdrew support for a comprehensive digital assets bill upon discovering provisions that could harm consumers and hinder competition. Should the legislation falter, Hougan argued that crypto must navigate the path taken by disruptive giants like Uber and Airbnb, which thrived in regulatory grey areas by becoming too popular for lawmakers to overlook. — Will Canny Read more.
• Even as the U.K.’s crypto regulations progress through the system, most of the nation’s banks are still denying their customers access to even registered crypto exchanges. The Financial Conduct Authority’s list of crypto asset companies, which certifies compliance with the country’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations, currently includes 59 firms, including exchanges like Coinbase (COIN), Kraken, and Gemini (GEMI). Nevertheless, clients wishing to invest on those platforms are likely to encounter obstacles from their banks. In a report released, the lobby group UK Cryptoasset Business Council indicated that seven out of the top 10 exchanges operating in the country are facing increased hostility from national banks over the past year. The remaining three reported that conditions remained unchanged. A staggering 80% of exchanges noted an uptick in customers experiencing restrictions or limitations on bank transfers in 2025, and 70% described the banking climate as more adversarial now than it was a year ago. The survey indicated that 40% of transactions faced blocks or delays. “The debanking of the UK’s digital asset economy is a significant barrier to its expansion,” the group stated in the report. “… nearly all major UK banks and payment service providers currently enforce blanket transaction limits or outright blocks on cryptoasset exchanges. This trend is progressively worsening, with new restrictions being implemented …” — Olivier Acuna Read more.

Calendar

• Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
• Feb. 17-21, 2026: EthDenver, Denver
• Feb. 23-24, 2026: NearCon, San Francisco
• Mar. 30-Apr. 2, 2026: EthCC, Cannes
• Apr. 15-16, 2026: Paris Blockchain Week, Paris
• May 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
• Nov. 3-6, 202