Self-Replicating and Self-Employed Smart Contract on Ethereum Blockchain
Atsushi Masumori, Norihiro Maruyama, Takashi Ikegami
TL;DR
The paper addresses how to instantiate autonomous, self-replicating agents on Ethereum that sustain themselves by earning Ether through NFT sales tied to evolving phenotypes. It employs a minimal proxy contract pattern (EIP-1167) with a withdraw mechanism to enable replication and uses on-chain or near-on-chain NFT data (SVG-based) to monetize agent phenotypes via ERC-721 tokens. A Biomorph-inspired developmental algorithm drives phenotype evolution, and an open-ended evolutionary dynamic emerges from selection pressures based on NFT market performance. The work demonstrates a novel integration of blockchain protocols with evolutionary computation, enabling autonomous agent economies and ecosystems, and outlines plans for mainnet deployment and broader agent protocol development.
Abstract
Blockchain is the underlying technology for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Blockchain is a robust distributed ledger that uses consensus algorithms to approve transactions in a decentralized manner, making malicious tampering extremely difficult. Ethereum, one of the blockchains, can be seen as an unstoppable computer which shared by users around the world that can run Turing-complete programs. In order to run any program on Ethereum, Ether (currency on Ethereum) is required. In other words, Ether can be seen as a kind of energy in the Ethereum world. We developed self-replicating and self-employed agents who earn the energy by themselves to replicate them, on the Ethereum blockchain. The agents can issued their token and gain Ether each time the tokens are sold. When a certain amount of Ether is accumulated, the agent replicates itself and leaves offspring. The goal of this project is to implement artificial agents that lives for itself, not as a tool for humans, in the open cyber space connected to the real world.