Arborithms are a species of synthetic life form that exist entirely on the blockchain. Each Arborithm is a procedurally generated tree whose genetic code is encoded within its NFT token ID. This token ID contains all the information necessary for its visual representation, which is rendered via on-chain JavaScript code. This creates a direct, immutable link between the organism’s genotype (the token ID) and its phenotype (the visualized tree), with no off-chain dependencies.
Arborithms create a symbiotic relationship between synthetic life and human participants, mediated by economic incentives. The Arborithm species evolve and propagate through human intervention: humans can “breed” any two Arborithms to mint a new Arborithm, which inherits a combination of its parents’ genetic traits. This breeding system rewards humans who contribute to the evolution of the Arborithms species. A fee is required to breed, which is paid as a royalty to the NFT holders of the parent trees. This fee increases with each successive reproduction, creating a scarcity mechanism that discourages monolithic breeding patterns and encourages genetic diversity. Humans are thus incentivized not merely to speculate on individual NFTs, but to contribute actively to the species’ evolution. They apply their aesthetic judgment to identify and combine desirable traits, guiding the Arborithm species towards new forms of beauty and rarity. Arborithms are, therefore, a blockchain-based life form that co-opts human economic and aesthetic drives to reproduce and evolve.