About Natcats
Intro
Natcats is the first art collection created from digital matter. Each Natcat has unique traits and is generated autonomously through the Bitcoin blockchain.
The genesis Natcat was inscribed on 2/8/2024, and the project was shared publicly two days later. On launch, it became the first utilization of the Unique Non-Arbitrary Token (UNAT) standard.
Additionally, Natcats is the first blockchain project utilizing autonomous feature release. Unreleased Natcats traits have the potential to be introduced until the last Bitcoin block is mined (estimated in the year 2140).
Natcats supply
Natcats supply is determined based on the occurence of the pattern "3b" in the hexadecimal bits field of Bitcoin's block data. Each Natcat is associated with a specific Bitcoin block, and Natcats only exist for blocks containing the pattern "3b" (see table below).
Because new Bitcoin blocks are continuously being introduced, Natcats supply is dynamic. Bitcoin's bits field is associated with mining difficulty. Mining difficulty adjusts every 2016 blocks (approximately every two weeks). Any difficulty period corresponding to the occurence of the pattern "3b" will produce a new set of 2016 Natcats.
Prior to the deployment of Natcats, there were x3 difficulty periods in Bitcoin's history that contained the pattern 3b, and a fourth was active at the time of the deployment of the Natcats genesis inscription. On deployment, Natcats supply was roughly 7k. It increased to 8064 before pausing at the end of the difficulty period. Future Natcats supply events cannot be precisely predicted. The next set of 2016 Natcats may be introduced next month, next year, in 10 years, in 100 years, or never.
Trait Selection
Each Natcat is a one-of-one artwork with unique traits. Traits are selected using Bitcoin's block height field, which serves as a unique key. Each Natcats trait is assigned to a distinct pattern search function that can be applied to the block height field. In the example below, the Natcats DMT mint for block 123008 ("blk": "123008") returns TRUE for the trait “earring”, and FALSE for trait "bow" based on the contents of As a result, only the trait "earring" is assigned.
Because only a subset of block heights are valid instances of Natcats, the rarity of a given trait is a function of both the block field, as well as the distribution of Natcats supply across blocks.
Multi-pattern DMT Framework
Natcats utilizes a Multi-pattern Digital Matter Theory (DMT) framework to establish relationships between traits. This framework was developed for Natcats. More information on this framework can be found here.
Traits
A comprehensive overview of Natcats traits can be found here.
Dynamic Rarity and Unreleased Traits
Because Natcats supply is dynamic, the rarity of a given trait is also subject to change. A given trait may increase or decrease in its rarity relative to other traits as new block heights are introduced. As a corollary of this, traits that have zero supply at the time of deployment, may be introduced to the supply at a later date as new block heights are introduced. These traits can be considered unreleased on deployment. Unreleased traits are a key feature of a multi-pattern DMT framework. Future availability of unreleased traits cannot be predicted by design. This creates an experience in which both creator and participants are witnesses to a project’s autonomous unfolding.
There are 9 unreleased traits in NATCATs, including the traits "alien tiara", "hammer", and "vial", shown in the example below.
| Pattern Function | Trait | Frequency | Example Block |
|---|---|---|---|
contains "00000" | Alien Tiara | 0 | none |
contains 6-digit fibonacci number | Hammer | 0 | none |
contains 7-digit fibonacci number | Vial | 0 | none |
Why Natcats
Natcats was created to explore the possibilities for autonomous creation through Digital Matter, based on the core belief that the metaverse should be decentralized.
A true metaverse requires autonomous dynamics that exist independently from human control (akin to the weather, the tides, the orbit of the planets in the real world). These dynamics can be created on the blockchain using Digital Matter.
Activities such as inscribing UNATs on newly introduced Bitcoin blocks from your laptop, or discovering the first Natcats with unreleased traits, are early and significant metaverse activities - perhaps even more so than visiting the latest centralized big tech "metaverse" in VR.
Acknowledgments
Natcats was created by Ev Natcats launch partners are The Block Runner and Mscribe UNAT indexing is provided by Trac Systems Thank you to the community for your support.
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