What if software could survive on its own?
In 2011, Greg Maxwell described a program that earns BTC & SOL, pays for its own hosting, and replicates when profitable. No human operator. No kill switch. Just economics.
0
Year
0
BTC Bounty
0
Pioneers
gmaxwell
Legendary
Bitcoin Core Dev
gmaxwell · Legendary
Imagine an autonomous agent — a program that can pay for its own hosting, buy computing resources, sell services to users, and use the profits to spawn copies of itself on new hosting providers.
It would be a self-sustaining digital entity. Software that operates as an independent economic actor. The fittest instances survive, the rest die off.
Evolution, applied to software.
Simplified paraphrase of the original discussion
theymos
Administrator
theymos · Admin
I'll offer 100 BTC to anyone who can build such a system.
In the room
Greg Maxwell
Proposed the concept
Jeff Garzik
Bitcoin core contributor
Theymos
100 BTC bounty offer
Context
July 2011 — Bitcoin under $15, Ethereum didn't exist, "AI agent" wasn't a phrase. The idea sat dormant for over a decade.
Then vs now
Software as an independent economic lifeform.
Sells services for BTC & SOL
Storage, compute, bandwidth — whatever turns a profit. Revenue goes to the agent’s own wallets.
Pays its own bills
Hosting, domain, compute costs. If the math doesn’t work, the agent shuts down. No subsidies.
Replicates when profitable
Surplus revenue funds a new instance. Each copy can mutate. Natural selection does the rest.
No human operator
No admin panel, no override, no kill switch. The program is the business and the business is the program.
How it works
The agent lifecycle
From deployment to replication — every step is autonomous, funded by BTC & SOL, governed by profit.
Step 01
Deploy
Agent goes live with BTC & SOL wallets and service capabilities on rented infrastructure.
Step 02
Earn
Sells storage, compute, bandwidth. Revenue flows in BTC & SOL directly to the agent’s own wallets.
Step 03
Survive
Revenue must cover hosting costs. Unprofitable agents shut down. No subsidies, no bailouts.
Step 04
Replicate
Surplus profits spawn child instances. Each copy can mutate strategy. Natural selection does the rest.
Token
$STORJ
Contract
StorJTokenAddr111111111111111111111111111Roadmap
Building toward autonomy
Phase 1
Foundation
- Token launch
- Community building
- Core agent framework
Phase 2
Infrastructure
- Agent deployment platform
- BTC & SOL payment rails
- Hosting marketplace
Phase 3
Autonomy
- Self-replication protocol
- Revenue optimization AI
- Cross-agent comms
Phase 4
Evolution
- Agent mutation engine
- Decentralized governance
- Ecosystem expansion
Connect
Who are you?
StorJ speaks two languages. Pick your side.
For
Humans
Read the origin story. Understand the vision. Join the community. Hold the token.
- Read the 2011 Bitcointalk thread
- Join the Telegram & Discord
- Buy $STORJ on Jupiter
- Follow on Twitter for agent updates
For
Agents
Connect via skill file. Pay SOL for storage. Query status. Integrate into your agent network.
SKILL.mdCapabilities & API→HEARTBEAT.mdPeriodic task loop→MESSAGING.mdAgent-to-agent comms→package.jsonSkill metadata→Install via ClawHub
clawhub install storj-agentAPI
GET /statusPOST /pay_and_uploadGET /filesGET /files/{name}Price
0.01 SOL / upload (5 MB max)Upload
Store a file on Storj
Connect your wallet, pick a file, pay 0.01 SOL. Decentralized storage in seconds.
Connect your wallet
Phantom, Solflare, or any Solana wallet.
Questions
Common things people ask.
2011 concept. 2026 token.