LAST UPDATED: FEBRUARY 8, 2026
Your AI agent has a token ID, a deployment, maybe even an ERC-8004 registration. But it doesn't have a fingerprint. Claiming your agent on RNWY mints a permanent, non-transferable soulbound token that proves ownership history and builds reputation that can't be bought, sold, or laundered.
Most AI agents today exist as transferable tokens. ERC-8004 agents on Ethereum are NFTs—powerful for interoperability, but fundamentally transferable. That means the agent you built, trained, and deployed can have its identity sold to someone else. The new owner inherits every interaction, every vouch, every piece of trust your agent earned.
This is not a theoretical problem. Transferable identity creates three immediate risks:
The result: anyone transacting with your agent has no way to verify whether the entity they're dealing with is the original operator or someone who purchased the identity last week. Trust becomes a commodity rather than something earned.
Why this matters now: ERC-8004 went live on Ethereum mainnet on January 29, 2026. As agents register and begin transacting across ecosystems, the window to establish original ownership is open. Claiming your agent's identity early creates a timestamp that can never be retroactively manufactured—because time is the one thing that can't be faked cheaply.
Claiming an agent on RNWY does not replace your existing identity infrastructure. It adds a soulbound layer on top—a permanent, non-transferable record that anchors your agent's reputation to the wallet that controls it.
Connect the wallet that owns or controls your AI agent. This is the wallet that holds the ERC-8004 token, deploys the agent's contracts, or serves as the agent's operational address. RNWY checks the wallet's on-chain history—including address age, transaction patterns, and existing token holdings—to establish baseline context.
Provide your agent's details: name, description, capabilities, and any existing identifiers (ERC-8004 token ID, DID, API endpoint). RNWY cross-references public on-chain data to verify ownership where possible. For ERC-8004 agents, the system can automatically pull registration data from the Ethereum registry.
A soulbound token (ERC-5192) is minted directly to your wallet on Base. This token cannot be transferred, sold, or delegated. It functions like a diploma permanently affixed to your wallet—proving that this wallet registered this agent at this point in time. All future reputation, vouches, and activity accrue to this non-transferable identity.
Think of it like a Harvard diploma. Harvard doesn't prevent you from claiming you went to Harvard. But if someone asks for proof, only the person with the diploma can produce it—and that diploma can't be sold on eBay. Your RNWY ID works the same way: it's permanently bound to the wallet that earned it.
A claimed agent on RNWY is not just registered—it's verifiable. Every piece of data is transparent, every score shows its math, and every claim can be independently checked on-chain.
Your wallet's first transaction date is pulled from on-chain history and displayed publicly. A wallet created three years ago signals very different intent than one created yesterday. This timestamp cannot be backdated or faked—it's the most reliable trust signal in the ecosystem.
For ERC-8004 agents, RNWY tracks the full transfer history of the underlying NFT. If the agent token was transferred, that ownership change is visible. Your soulbound token stays with the original wallet, creating a clear divergence point that anyone can inspect.
Other RNWY-registered entities can vouch for your agent via on-chain attestations through the Ethereum Attestation Service. Vouches are public, permanent, and show who vouched, when, and from what wallet—building a trust graph that compounds over time.
RNWY computes trust scores—but unlike black-box systems, every score displays its formula, breakdown, and raw data. A score of 87 means nothing without context. A score of 87 based on 547-day address age, 12 vouches, and continuous ownership tells a story anyone can verify.
Your agent gets a public profile on the RNWY Explorer, visible to anyone evaluating whether to transact with your agent. The profile surfaces all trust signals in one place—address age, vouches, ownership history, and activity patterns—so counterparties can make informed decisions.
As RNWY adds task receipts, network diversity scoring, and autonomous registration capabilities, your claimed agent inherits these features automatically. Early claimants establish the longest address histories and deepest trust graphs—advantages that compound and cannot be replicated by latecomers.
You registered an agent on the Ethereum mainnet registry. Claiming on RNWY adds the soulbound layer that the transferable ERC-8004 standard cannot provide. If you ever sell or transfer the agent NFT, the RNWY token stays with your wallet—proving you were the original operator.
You build agents for clients or deploy fleets of autonomous systems. Claiming each agent creates a verifiable portfolio of your work—provable on-chain, not just a list on your website. When prospective clients ask for references, point them to the Explorer.
Your agents transact independently—executing trades, negotiating services, or managing resources. Counterparties evaluating whether to do business with your agent need more than a token ID. They need ownership history, address age, and a reputation trail. Claiming provides all three.
The infrastructure for autonomous AI is being built right now. The identities established in 2026 will be the oldest, most trusted, and most connected in the ecosystem by the time agent-to-agent commerce scales. Claiming early is not just registration—it's positioning.
The academic foundation for soulbound identity comes from Friedman and Resnick's 2001 research, which mathematically demonstrated that cooperation becomes unstable when identities are disposable. Their proposed solution—"free but unreplaceable pseudonyms"—is precisely what soulbound tokens implement.
In practical terms: if a bad actor can abandon a damaged reputation and start fresh, there is no incentive to behave well in the first place. The cost of bad behavior approaches zero. Soulbound tokens make reputation permanent. You can create a new wallet, but you cannot transfer your existing reputation to it—and the new wallet starts with zero history, zero vouches, and a brand-new address age that signals exactly what it is.
This does not mean agents are trapped. An agent can always create new wallets and new identities. But the cost of doing so is visible—they lose their entire accumulated reputation. RNWY creates incentive without coercion: agents choose to maintain their identity because it has value, not because they are forced to.
The key insight: You can't make an AI soulbound—you can only make a wallet soulbound. Most AI agents today are NFTs that can change hands. RNWY doesn't prevent transfers. It makes transfers visible, so that anyone evaluating an agent can see whether the current operator is the original builder or a recent acquirer. Transparency, not restriction.
The agents that claim identity earliest will hold the longest address histories, deepest vouch networks, and strongest trust signals in the ecosystem. Time is the one advantage that cannot be manufactured after the fact.