{"id":"chris-johnson","title":"Chris Johnson","content":"**Chris Johnson** is the co-founder of the [Virtuals Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/virtuals-protocol), Johnson has played a crucial role in advancing the integration of [AI agents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ai-agents) with [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) systems, particularly through his work on [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) Improvement Proposal ERC-8126. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-lrymF4e6BRbGxPvQ) [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-KbqW2P4ijvTZsYcg) [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-u68cNdAUi766czJa)​\n\n### Early Life and Education\n\nChris Johnson was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, where he built a foundation that would later support his multifaceted career in communications, business development, and technological innovation. However, specifics about his major or degree are not documented, indicating that his professional expertise may have been shaped by practical experiences rather than formal education alone. [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-u68cNdAUi766czJa)\n\n### Career\n\nChris Johnson worked in professional cycling management and founded multiple UCI-registered cycling teams, which served as the basis for later work with [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain).\n\n#### Professional Cycling Management\n\nJohnson founded Airgas Team in 2012 and served as its General Manager until 2013. In 2015, he founded Airgas-Safeway Team and continued in the role of General Manager through 2016.\n\nBetween 2016 and 2022, Johnson served as Founder and General Manager of Team Illuminate, a UCI-registered professional road cycling team. During this period, team riders recorded stage victories in events including the Tour of Korea, Tour of Taiyuan, Tour of Thailand, Tour of Japan, Tour of Rwanda, Vuelta a Colombia, Sibiu Cycling Tour, Tour d'Azerbaidjan, Tour of Taiwan, and Tour of Iran. The team also recorded victories in national championship events.\n\nFrom 2017 to 2022, Johnson served as Founder and General Manager of Team Illuminate's women's program. During this period, riders associated with the team won national championship titles in countries including Japan, Israel, and New Zealand, as well as the Oceania Continental Championships.\n\n#### Virtuals Protocol\n\nIn 2021, Johnson co-founded [Virtuals Protocol](https://iq.wiki/wiki/virtuals-protocol) with Prakash Somosundram and Colin Choo. The project develops infrastructure related to [AI agents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ai-agents) and [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain)-based applications.\n\nAt [Virtuals Protocol,](https://iq.wiki/wiki/virtuals-protocol) Johnson served as Chief Marketing Officer from December 2021 to December 2022. Between January 2023 and August 2023, he held the position of Swiss Army Knife. In August 2023, he became Chef, a position he continues to hold. Since August 2024, he has also been involved in community growth and business development activities within the organization.\n\n#### ERC-8126\n\nJohnson is listed as a co-author of [Ethereum Improvement Proposal](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum-improvement-proposal-eip) ERC-8126, which was released in January 2026. The proposal outlines a verification framework for [AI agents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ai-agents) operating within [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) environments.\n\nThe proposal describes verification processes related to areas including [smart contract](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract) security and media validation. It also references the use of [zero-knowledge proofs](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zero-knowledge-proofs-zkps) and optional quantum cryptography verification methods.\n\n#### Industry Engagement\n\nJohnson has participated in conferences, panel discussions, media appearances, and other industry events related to artificial intelligence, [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology, [AI agents](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ai-agents), and decentralized systems. [\\[1\\]](#cite-id-lrymF4e6BRbGxPvQ)  [\\[2\\]](#cite-id-KbqW2P4ijvTZsYcg)  [\\[3\\]](#cite-id-u68cNdAUi766czJa)  [\\[4\\]](#cite-id-A3wH4TiSFdivOTn3)  [\\[5\\]](#cite-id-CFwSu9XI0VLgwm70)  [\\[6\\]](#cite-id-oDijs0Pgrbnp8ti5) ","summary":"Chris Johnson is an influential figure in blockchain technology, serving as co-founder of Virtual Protocol and co-author of ERC-8126 for AI agent verification.","images":[{"id":"QmcZKeMcqYEpwerbuYooXoLcSizsqZY65kPUBABPmoJV3m","type":"image/jpeg, image/png"}],"categories":[{"id":"people","title":"people"}],"tags":[{"id":"Founder"},{"id":"Developer"},{"id":"Speaker"}],"media":[{"id":"QmXbQ4MCVTtXnMxVdycaHpFFdGN19qRhTFa4bXbNpGBduZ","name":"1701062702554.jpeg","caption":"","thumbnail":"QmXbQ4MCVTtXnMxVdycaHpFFdGN19qRhTFa4bXbNpGBduZ","source":"IPFS_IMG"},{"id":"QmP8hDNQaLUXm76hKxxzSdxmNXL5Dm8UF47RYDxDn4T2iQ","name":"GpXIT3AbYAM-aAc.jpeg","caption":"","thumbnail":"QmP8hDNQaLUXm76hKxxzSdxmNXL5Dm8UF47RYDxDn4T2iQ","source":"IPFS_IMG"},{"id":"QmNNm5k5EWwuJ8KJYzkHFHdARjbXW5ek6ELiaqRTijHUyK","name":"GqGD7N3W8AArptz.jpeg","caption":"","thumbnail":"QmNNm5k5EWwuJ8KJYzkHFHdARjbXW5ek6ELiaqRTijHUyK","source":"IPFS_IMG"}],"metadata":[{"id":"references","value":"[\n  {\n    \"id\": \"lrymF4e6BRbGxPvQ\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/06-14-2026-virtuals-protocol-executive-says-ethereum-proposal-erc-8126-is-released-for-ai-agent-verification-333895389818226\",\n    \"description\": \"Binance News\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"KbqW2P4ijvTZsYcg\",\n    \"url\": \"https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8126\",\n    \"description\": \"Ethereum Improvement Proposal\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"u68cNdAUi766czJa\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoper-johnson-51226139/\",\n    \"description\": \"LinkedIn\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"A3wH4TiSFdivOTn3\",\n    \"url\": \"https://www.gate.com/learn/articles/virtual-overview/5148\",\n    \"description\": \"Gate Learn\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"CFwSu9XI0VLgwm70\",\n    \"url\": \"https://x.com/DonJohnsonSays/status/2065315466151968923\",\n    \"description\": \"X\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  },\n  {\n    \"id\": \"oDijs0Pgrbnp8ti5\",\n    \"url\": \"https://vendelux.com/app/profile/chris-johnson/8f5b7b92-abde-4f5d-b0f1-fb61d6b802b8\",\n    \"description\": \"Vendelux\",\n    \"timestamp\": 1781878401059\n  }\n]"},{"id":"website","value":"https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/06-14-2026-virtuals-protocol-executive-says-ethereum-proposal-erc-8126-is-released-for-ai-agent-verification-333895389818226"},{"id":"linkedin_profile","value":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoper-johnson-51226139/"},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"\"https://ipfs.everipedia.org/ipfs/QmWEarVEuydbQqfGLizNQSyk418YB1HansmUiH9TYxGcZW\""},{"id":"commit-message","value":"\"Updated events (2 -> 2 items), added 3 media items, updated image (1 -> 1 items)\""},{"id":"previous_cid","value":"QmWEarVEuydbQqfGLizNQSyk418YB1HansmUiH9TYxGcZW"}],"events":[{"id":"1d011ab3-6f12-485f-8fa2-41f25cf23939","date":"2021-01-01","title":"Co-founding Virtual Protocol","type":"CREATED","description":"Chris Johnson co-founded Virtual Protocol in 2021, focusing on AI agents and blockchain technology.","link":null,"continent":null,"country":null},{"id":"8a0991f3-acbd-4567-afd4-f4cf7911045c","date":"2026-01-01","title":"Co-author of ERC-8126","type":"DEFAULT","description":"He co-authored the ERC-8126 proposal for AI agent verification.","link":"https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-8126","continent":null,"country":null}],"user":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"author":{"id":"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889"},"operator":{"id":"0xd5893989b9952c6568a99F854795AcC5Ae480D56"},"language":"en","version":1,"linkedWikis":{"blockchains":[],"founders":[],"speakers":[]},"recentActivity":"{\"items\":[{\"id\":\"0f540459-408b-474e-915a-98e2f8b1d333\",\"title\":\"Chris Johnson\",\"description\":\"Chris Johnson is an influential figure in blockchain technology, serving as co-founder of Virtual Protocol and co-author of ERC-8126 for AI agent verification.\",\"timestamp\":\"2026-06-19T14:30:16.936Z\",\"category\":\"people\",\"status\":{\"icon\":\"RiGlobalLine\",\"label\":\"Wiki Updated\",\"iconClassName\":\"text-green-500\"},\"user\":{\"name\":\"0x8af7a19a26d8fbc48defb35aefb15ec8c407f889\",\"address\":\"0xd5893989b9952c6568a99F854795AcC5Ae480D56\"},\"button\":{\"label\":\"View Summary\",\"icon\":\"RiFileTextLine\"},\"summarySections\":[{\"title\":\"Metadata\",\"subtitle\":\"Metadata fields were added/updated (action added; date and id changed).\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":3,\"changes\":[\"Added metadata field \\\"action\\\" with value \\\"CREATE\\\".\",\"Updated metadata field \\\"date\\\" from \\\"2026-01-01\\\" to \\\"2026-01\\\".\",\"Updated metadata field \\\"id\\\" from \\\"QmZCU4Ns9QcjAKX2JLe5MP6d2caYhrNbdRfsyPdQ1eCasJ\\\" to \\\"QmcZKeMcqYEpwerbuYooXoLcSizsqZY65kPUBABPmoJV3m\\\".\"]},{\"title\":\"Media\",\"subtitle\":\"Media changed from an empty array to three IPFS image items.\",\"variant\":\"modified\",\"changeCount\":4,\"changes\":[\"Removed media: [] (was an empty array).\",\"Added media item: id \\\"QmXbQ4MCVTtXnMxVdycaHpFFdGN19qRhTFa4bXbNpGBduZ\\\", name \\\"1701062702554.jpeg\\\", source \\\"IPFS_IMG\\\", thumbnail \\\"QmXbQ4MCVTtXnMxVdycaHpFFdGN19qRhTFa4bXbNpGBduZ\\\".\",\"Added media item: id \\\"QmP8hDNQaLUXm76hKxxzSdxmNXL5Dm8UF47RYDxDn4T2iQ\\\", name \\\"GpXIT3AbYAM-aAc.jpeg\\\", source \\\"IPFS_IMG\\\", thumbnail \\\"QmP8hDNQaLUXm76hKxxzSdxmNXL5Dm8UF47RYDxDn4T2iQ\\\".\",\"Added media item: id \\\"QmNNm5k5EWwuJ8KJYzkHFHdARjbXW5ek6ELiaqRTijHUyK\\\", name \\\"GqGD7N3W8AArptz.jpeg\\\", source \\\"IPFS_IMG\\\", thumbnail \\\"QmNNm5k5EWwuJ8KJYzkHFHdARjbXW5ek6ELiaqRTijHUyK\\\".\"]}]}]}"}