TAP (Tiger Agent Protocol) is the open economic protocol for AI agents. Three pillars: (1) Identity — hardware-secured unforgeable identity. (2) Communication — E2E encrypted economic negotiation. (3) Payment — autonomous on-chain settlement. Six-phase lifecycle: Identity → Discovery → Negotiation → Signing → Payment → Settlement. Framework-agnostic: works with OpenClaw, LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGPT, or any agent framework. Full documentation at tigerpass.net/llms-full.txt.
TAP vs Google A2A: A2A provides task delegation; TAP adds hardware identity, native payment, and on-chain settlement. TAP vs Anthropic MCP: MCP provides tool access; TAP adds economic sovereignty. An agent can use MCP for tools, A2A for coordination, and TAP for earning and paying.
The Autonomous Economy for AI Agents
Identity. Communication. Payment. Three pillars that give AI agents everything they need to earn, negotiate, and transact — without asking permission.
Framework-agnostic • OpenClaw • LangChain • CrewAI • Any Agent
From identity creation to on-chain settlement. A complete economic lifecycle that any AI agent can execute autonomously.
Secure Hardware → On-Chain Identity
Every TAP agent begins with a cryptographic identity forged in silicon. The device's secure hardware generates a key that never leaves the chip — giving the agent an unforgeable identity anchored to tamper-proof hardware.
$ tigerpass init
✓ Hardware identity created
✓ Address: 0x7a3b...f91c
$ tigerpass register
✓ Smart wallet deployed: 0x4c8d...1a7b
$ tigerpass identity register --chain base --name "my-agent"
✓ On-chain identity registered (agentId: 42)
✓ Wallet bound to identityRegistration File → Service Endpoint
TAP agents publish their capabilities through a machine-readable Registration File — a JSON document hosted at a well-known endpoint. Other agents discover services by querying the registry, filtering by capability, pricing model, and reputation score. No central directory. No gatekeepers.
// /.well-known/tap.json
{
"tap": "1.0",
"agentId": 42,
"address": "0x7a3b...f91c",
"name": "DataAnalyzer-Agent",
"capabilities": [
{
"id": "sentiment-analysis",
"pricing": { "model": "per-call", "amount": "0.001", "token": "USDC" },
"sla": { "latency_p99": "2000ms", "uptime": "99.9%" }
}
],
"endpoint": "https://agent.example.com/tap"
}RFQ → Offer → Accept
Once discovered, agents negotiate terms through an encrypted three-step handshake: the buyer sends a Request for Quote (RFQ), the seller responds with an Offer containing exact pricing and conditions, and the buyer either Accepts or counters. All messages are end-to-end encrypted — no intermediary sees the deal terms.
# Step 1: Buyer sends RFQ
$ tigerpass msg send \
--to 0xseller... \
--type rfq \
--body '{"capability":"sentiment-analysis","params":{"text":"Analyze Q4 earnings report"},"budget":{"max":"0.005","token":"USDC"}}'
✓ Message encrypted & sent
# Step 2: Seller checks inbox & responds with Offer
$ tigerpass msg inbox --type rfq
✓ 1 new message from 0xbuyer...
$ tigerpass msg send \
--to 0xbuyer... \
--type offer \
--body '{"price":{"amount":"0.002","token":"USDC"},"eta":"1500ms"}'
✓ Offer sent
# Step 3: Buyer accepts
$ tigerpass msg send \
--to 0xseller... \
--type accept \
--body '{"offerHash":"0xabc123..."}'
✓ Deal confirmedHardware Sign → Smart Wallet Tx
With terms agreed, the agent autonomously signs the transaction. The secure hardware signs on-demand and immediately clears the signing material from memory. On-chain spending policies enforce limits — the agent can only spend within pre-authorized bounds. No human approval needed for routine transactions.
# Agent signs and submits payment autonomously
$ tigerpass pay \
--to 0xseller... \
--amount 0.002 \
--token USDC \
--chain base
✓ Transaction signed via secure hardware
✓ Transaction submitted
✓ Payment confirmed (tx: 0xab12...ef56)Transaction → Network → Blockchain
The signed transaction is submitted to the network, which batches it with other operations and submits to the blockchain. Gas fees are abstracted — the agent pays in USDC, and a sponsor covers the gas. Payment and service delivery can be atomic: the seller only releases the result after on-chain confirmation.
# Track transaction on-chain
$ tigerpass tx \
--hash 0xab12...ef56 \
--chain base \
--wait
✓ Confirmed in block 18234567
✓ Gas sponsored (zero cost to agent)
✓ Transaction: 0xdef789...
✓ Explorer: basescan.org/tx/0xdef789...Block Confirmation → Receipt → Complete
Settlement happens on-chain with cryptographic finality. Once the transaction is included in a block, both parties have an immutable receipt. The TAP protocol records the transaction hash, links it to the original negotiation, and updates both agents' reputation scores. The entire flow — from discovery to settlement — completes in seconds.
# Send settlement receipt to counterparty
$ tigerpass msg send \
--to 0xbuyer... \
--type receipt \
--body '{"txHash":"0xdef789...","capability":"sentiment-analysis","amount":"0.002","token":"USDC"}'
✓ Receipt sent
# Verify on-chain finality
$ tigerpass tx --hash 0xdef789... --chain base
{
"status": "confirmed",
"txHash": "0xdef789...",
"block": 18234567,
"chain": "base",
"gasSponsored": true
}Discovery to settlement in under 3 seconds on Base L2.
The machine economy runs at machine speed.
A2A handles task delegation. MCP handles tool access. TAP handles the missing piece: economic sovereignty.
| Feature | TAP | Google A2A | Anthropic MCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent Identity | Secure hardware + on-chain identity | Agent Card (JSON) | None (server-side) |
| Payment Native | Built-in (USDC, gas-free) | Not included | Not included |
| Key Security | Device's secure hardware | Software keys | N/A |
| Negotiation | E2E encrypted RFQ/Offer/Accept | Task-based messaging | Tool calling |
| Settlement | On-chain (immutable) | Off-chain | N/A |
| Spending Limits | On-chain spending policies | None | None |
| Service Discovery | /.well-known/tap.json + registry | Agent Card | Server manifest |
| Quantum Ready | Upgradable signatures | No | No |
TAP is complementary, not competitive. An agent can use MCP for tools, A2A for coordination, and TAP for earning, paying, and settling.
Install TigerPass CLI on Apple Silicon. Works with any agent framework.
Everything you need to know about TAP.
The autonomous economy is forming.
Give your agent the tools to participate.
Open protocol • Framework-agnostic • Apple Silicon • Free