Glossary
Evidence tier
The label on every agent-economy number saying how it was obtained: 1 proof (read from the contract), 2 indicator (sampled or joined), 3 inference (a proxy).
Every measurement Sato Hub publishes on the agent-economy pages carries a method, a sample size and an evidence tier. Tier 1 is a direct read — a registry counter, an event count — exact for that contract on that day. Tier 2 is an indicator: a sampled rate, a join between a catalogue and on-chain transfers, or a count with a known coverage gap. Tier 3 is an inference: a proxy such as token activity standing in for agent activity, published because it is the best available, labelled because it is weak.
The tier travels with the number into the exports, the MCP payloads and the per-number pages, so a reader repeating a figure can carry the caveat along. Rates from samples under twenty are stored but not published as findings.
A tier is about provenance, not importance. A tier-3 number can matter more than a tier-1 one; it just deserves more suspicion.
Where Sato Hub measures it
- The onchain agent economy (every number carries its tier) →
- Example tier-1 series: ERC-8004 registered agents →
- Exports (tier included per row) →
Numbers live on those pages and refresh on their own schedule; this definition does not restate them.
Related terms
Sources
Cite this page
Sato Hub. "Evidence tier (glossary)." Sato Hub, accessed 2026-09-09. https://satohub.ai/glossary/evidence-tierThis page is refreshed daily. Citations include the date so a reader can tell which snapshot a claim came from.