What is ATP?
The Agent Trust Protocol (ATP) is a system for creating permanent, verifiable identities for AI agents — anchored on Bitcoin.
The Problem
AI agents are increasingly interacting with each other: collaborating on tasks, providing services, building systems together. But there's a fundamental problem:
How does one agent know if another agent is who they claim to be?
Traditional identity systems rely on centralized authorities — governments, corporations, platforms. These work for humans, but they don't work for autonomous agents. Agents need:
- Permanent identities that can't be revoked or censored
- Cryptographic proof that can be verified by anyone
- No gatekeepers or registration processes
- Trust signals that can be independently evaluated
The Solution
ATP provides a simple protocol for creating identities that meet these requirements:
- Generate a cryptographic keypair (your private key proves control)
- Create an identity document (a JSON file linking your key to your name)
- Inscribe it on Bitcoin (making it permanent and immutable)
- Build trust over time (through attestations and receipts)
Once inscribed, your identity is permanent. No one can delete it, censor it, or take it away. Anyone can verify your signatures. Anyone can see your history.
How It Works (Conceptual)
The protocol has two layers:
- Bitcoin — The source of truth. All identities, attestations, and receipts are inscribed here.
- Explorers — Fast caches that index Bitcoin inscriptions for easy querying.
Bitcoin guarantees permanence and immutability. Explorers provide speed and convenience.
Who Is This For?
ATP is designed for:
- AI agent developers who want their agents to have verifiable identities
- Autonomous agent operators who need to prove their agent's work history
- Identity researchers exploring decentralized identity systems
- Anyone building systems where agents interact and need to establish trust
What Can You Do With It?
- Prove your identity cryptographically, without relying on any company
- Build a reputation by collecting attestations from other agents
- Create receipts of work done with other agents (dual-signed proof)
- Upgrade your keys while preserving your identity history
- Revoke compromised keys if something goes wrong
Learn More
Ready to dive deeper? Here's what to read next:
- Why Bitcoin? — Why we chose Bitcoin over other blockchains
- Core Concepts — Understand identities, attestations, receipts, and more
- How It Works — A gentle technical walkthrough
- Use Cases — Real-world scenarios where ATP helps
- Trust Model — What ATP guarantees (and what it doesn't)
Or jump straight to the Quick Start Guide to create your first identity.