What is FACT? - KYA and Agentic Identity for AI Agents

FACT (Federated Agent Certification Token) enables KYA (Know Your Agent) verification and agentic identity for AI agents. Learn how FACT provides verifiable credentials for agent authentication and identity verification.

FACT (Federated Agent Certification Token) provides agentic identity and KYA (Know Your Agent) verification for AI agents. FACT gives AI agents a portable, verifiable identity so platforms can decide who they are dealing with, who the agent represents, and whether to trust or challenge an action.

The Problem

Today's AI agent ecosystem faces critical identity challenges:

No shared agent identity model - Platforms have no common way to confirm which verified person or business an agent represents, whether that identity was checked elsewhere, or what to do when the agent crosses ecosystems.
Payment protocols assume identity - Emerging agentic commerce protocols (Stripe ACP, Google AP2, Coinbase x402, Visa TAP) assume an agent identity layer exists but don't standardize it.
KYA (Know Your Agent) gaps mirror KYC/KYB - Just as financial systems need Know Your Customer and Know Your Business, we need Know Your Agent (KYA) for accountability, revocation, and auditability of non-human actors. KYA enables agent identity verification and agent authentication for AI systems.

Without a standard for agent identity, every platform must build its own verification system, creating fragmentation and friction for cross-platform agent operations.

The Solution: FACT

FACT is a portable credential that binds four essential elements:

Verified Principal - The person or organization behind the agent (with KYC/KYB verification)
Agent Instance - The specific agent, tied to stable cryptographic material
Principal-Agent Relationship - A verifiable link without baking in permissions
Provenance Metadata - Issuance, refresh, and lifecycle tracking

Federated means any compliant issuer can mint FACTs. Relying parties choose which issuers to trust and apply their own policy. Validation and revocation use open standards (W3C Verifiable Credentials, OIDC4VC, JOSE).

How FACT Works

FACT credentials consist of four layers:

1. Identity Layer

Verified principal attributes including:

KYC/KYB verification results
Entity type (individual, organization)
Jurisdiction and registration data
Risk screening (sanctions, PEP, adverse media)

2. Agent Binding Layer

Cryptographic binding between principal and agent:

Agent cryptographic identity (DID)
Code fingerprint (SHA256 of agent codebase)
Technical profile (model, architecture, deployment)
Tool capabilities and risk levels

3. Identity Delegation Metadata

Assertion that the agent carries the principal's verified identity:

Developer credential link
Verification level and assurance
Validity period
Status checking endpoint

4. Risk and Provenance Layer

Optional signals for policy decisions:

Safety scores (harm refusal, prompt injection, PII leakage)
Lifecycle events (creation, rotation, suspension, revocation)
Compliance certifications (HIPAA, SOC2, ISO 27001)
Data handling policies

Relying parties verify the issuer signature, check integrity, validate the time window, and examine the agent's anatomy. They can fold in risk and provenance signals based on their local policy.

Use Cases

Agent-Initiated Checkout

User or business completes KYC/KYB once with an issuer
Issuer binds the agent and issues a FACT credential
At checkout, the agent presents its FACT
Payment platform verifies issuer, cryptography, and optional risk scores
When policy passes, platform skips redundant challenges while maintaining an auditable link to a certified agent

Result: Faster checkout, reduced friction, maintained accountability.

Agent-Initiated On-Ramp or Account Action

Agent presents a FACT when funding accounts or triggering account changes across providers
Providers verify the FACT and apply local controls (jurisdiction, instrument risk, data categories)
Avoid repeated onboarding for returning agents
Support high-frequency, autonomous transactions with revocation and auditability

Result: Cross-platform agent operations without re-verification.

Cross-Platform Agent Marketplace

Agent developer obtains DeveloperCredential with tier 2 KYB
Each agent receives an AgentCredential with safety evaluation
Multiple marketplaces accept the same credentials
Users trust agents based on standardized verification, not platform reputation alone

Result: Portable trust enables multi-platform agent distribution.

Why Standardize?

Aligns with Industry and Research

Complements OpenID Foundation work on identity management for agentic AI
Addresses KYA (Know Your Agent) frameworks from Trulioo, Skyfire, and Captain Compliance
Fills the identity layer gap in agentic payment protocols (ACP, AP2, x402, TAP)

Federated, Multi-Stakeholder Model

No single gatekeeper - Any compliant issuer can participate
Relying parties keep control - Choose which issuers to trust, set your own policies
Open standards - Built on W3C Verifiable Credentials, DIDs, and JOSE

Regulatory Alignment

Supports emerging AI governance requirements (NIST AI RMF, EU AI Act)
Provides audit trail for AI agent actions
Enables revocation when agents are compromised or violate policies
Tracks data handling and compliance certifications

FACT vs. Other Approaches

Approach	Federated	Portable	Cryptographic	Revocable	Standards-Based
FACT	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓ (W3C VC, DIDs)
Platform-specific IDs	✗	✗	Varies	✓	✗
OAuth for agents	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓ (OAuth 2.0)
API keys	✗	✗	✗	✓	✗
DIDs alone	✓	✓	✓	✗	✓ (W3C DIDs)

Key differentiator: FACT combines the portability and cryptographic properties of DIDs with the verification and revocation capabilities of Verifiable Credentials, plus KYC/KYB for the principal.

Building a safer agentic world - If you're working on agentic systems or see the vision for verifiable agent identity, we'd love to hear from you. Share your feedback, use cases, or suggestions to help shape FACT. Contact pranav at beltic dot com or visit our Feedback page.

Trulioo - Know Your Agent (KYA) white paper
Captain Compliance - KYA: Know Your AI Agent (2025)
Skyfire - Know Your Agent (2024)
D. Greenwood - AI Agent ID (2025)

Agentic Commerce Protocols

OpenAI Developers - Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)
Stripe - Developing an open standard for agentic commerce (2025)
x402 - The Payment Protocol for Agentic Commerce (2025)
Visa - Trusted Agent Protocol announcement (2025)
Orium - Agentic Payments Explained: ACP, AP2, and x402 (2025)

Analysis and Commentary

Consumer Reports and Stanford Digital Economy Lab - The Race to Standardize Agentic Commerce (2025)
OnFinality - What is x402? (2025)