Most AI agents today rely on holding wallet private keys or API keys to operate.

This means that "ownership" is directly equivalent to "permission": as long as the agent possesses the key, it can almost do anything.

This model holds true for humans, but for autonomous agents, it is structurally a point of failure.

Keys compress too many different levels of concepts into the same primitive:

- Identity

- Permissions

- Asset control

This design is either-or, making it difficult to accurately define the scope, and revocation is high-risk and costly. Once leaked or misused, damage often occurs immediately and can quickly escalate into systemic issues.

Agents do not need to "own"; what they need is "capability," which is clear authorization for specific actions.

This is exactly the gap that ERC-8004 attempts to fill.

ERC-8004 redefines permissions as delegable and programmable capabilities, rather than possession of keys or assets.

Kite further decouples identity, permissions, and settlement on this basis:

- Permissions can be granted without handing over keys

- Scope, limits, and validity periods of permissions are enforced at the time of execution

- Revoking permissions does not disrupt the system and does not require key rotation

This allows delegation to remain safe and reliable even at machine speed.

Autonomous agents should not "own"; they should be authorized.🪁