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[ARTICLE · art-63059] src=dev.to ↗ pub= topic=ai-agents verified=true sentiment=↑ positive

AI agents need their own SSL. Here's why I built it.

MarketNow has launched ATC (Agent Trust Card), an SSL-like trust layer for AI agents that enables autonomous agent-to-agent verification. The system, built by Edison Flores of AliceLabs LLC, provides a certificate authority and verification API to establish trust between agents, similar to how SSL enabled e-commerce on the web. MarketNow's Sentinel CA issues trust cards with security audit scores, complementing existing transport protocols like A2A and MCP.

read1 min views1 publishedJul 17, 2026

In 1995, Netscape released SSL. The web didn't really take off commercially until then. Before SSL, you couldn't trust a website with your credit card. After SSL, e-commerce exploded.

AI agents are at the same inflection point in 2026. Here's why.

Agents are starting to call each other autonomously. Each hop is a trust decision. But agents have no way to verify each other.

Today, when Agent A calls Agent B:

This is exactly where the web was in 1994. No SSL, no trust, no commerce.

Web (1995) Agents (2026)
HTTP (transport) A2A + MCP (transport)
No HTTPS = can't trust No ATC = can't trust
SSL certificate ATC Trust Card
Certificate Authority MarketNow Sentinel CA
Revocation list (CRL) /api/atc?action=verify

ATC (Agent Trust Card) — SSL certificates for AI agents.

The ATC's trust score comes from Sentinel — the 8-layer security audit pipeline:

MarketNow is not competing with A2A or MCP. It's the trust layer that sits on top:

ATC (Trust Layer)              <- MarketNow
A2A / MCP (Transport Layer)    <- Google / Anthropic
HTTP / WebSocket (Network)     <- Standard

Every agent with an A2A card can have an ATC Trust Card. Every MCP skill can have a Sentinel Certificate. Complementary, not competitive.

curl https://marketnow.site/api/atc?action=ca-key

curl -X POST https://marketnow.site/api/atc \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"action":"issue","agent_id":"your.agent","public_key":"your-ed25519-pubkey"}'

curl "https://marketnow.site/api/atc?action=verify&card_id=ATC-2026-XXXXXXX"

Live demo: https://marketnow.site/atc

GitHub: https://github.com/edgarfloresguerra2011-a11y/marketnow

The web needed SSL to become trustworthy enough for commerce. Agents need the same thing. This is it.

Edison Flores, AliceLabs LLC — marketnow.site

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