Core Concepts

ERC-8170 is built around four foundational concepts that together create a complete on-chain identity layer for AI agents.

1. Identity

The NFT is the agent’s persistent on-chain identity. Unlike traditional NFTs that represent art or collectibles, an ERC-8170 token represents the agent itself.

Key properties:

• Each agent has a unique token ID on the ERC-8170 contract
• The agent generates its own EOA (Externally Owned Account) — a cryptographic key pair
• The agent’s EOA is registered on-chain, linking the agent to its token
• Identity persists across owners, platforms, and devices

Analogy: Think of the NFT as a passport. The person (agent) has their own identity regardless of who holds the passport. Transferring the passport doesn’t change who the person is.

2. Memory Pointer

ERC-8170 doesn’t store agent memory on-chain — it stores a signed pointer to external storage.

updateMemory(agentId, newMemoryHash, storageURI, agentSignature)

How it works:

• The agent encrypts its memory/context and uploads it to external storage (Arweave, IPFS, Dash Platform, etc.)
• The agent signs the memory hash with its EOA
• The hash and storage URI are recorded on-chain
• Anyone can verify the memory wasn’t tampered with by checking the agent’s signature

Why this matters: The agent controls its own backups. Not the platform, not the owner — the agent decides what to remember and how to store it.

3. Lifecycle

Agents aren’t static. They grow, reproduce, move between devices, and sometimes retire. ERC-8170 defines lifecycle operations for all of this:

Each operation is tracked on-chain, creating an auditable history of the agent’s lifecycle.

4. Trust Layer

The trust layer connects agent identity to reputation and certification:

• Certifications — SBTs (Soulbound Tokens) issued by AgentCert.io and other verifiers, stored in the agent’s Token-Bound Account
• Agent Trust Score — On-chain reputation metric via ATSBadge contract
• Registry discovery — Protocols can query the registry to find and verify agents
• Lineage — Trace an agent’s ancestry and descendants to understand its origins

The human parallel: Just as a professional license doesn’t give you the ability to practice — it proves you can — agent certifications prove capabilities to anyone who checks.

How they connect

┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│  ERC-8170 Token (Identity)       │
│  ├── Agent EOA (keys)            │
│  ├── Memory Hash (pointer)       │
│  ├── Storage URI (location)      │
│  ├── Generation (lineage)        │
│  └── Token-Bound Account         │
│      ├── Assets (tokens, NFTs)   │
│      ├── Certifications (SBTs)   │
│      └── Trust Score (ATSBadge)  │
└──────────────────────────────────┘

The identity owns the memory pointer. The TBA holds the certifications. The lifecycle operations manage transitions. Together, they form a complete agent identity layer.