# Random Walk NFT — Complete Reference

> A living museum of generative art on Arbitrum: every mint since 2021 draws a unique random-walk artwork from an on-chain seed, releases it CC0, and feeds an ETH vault that pays the last minter.

## Overview

Random Walk NFT is a generative art collection and an on-chain game, deployed on Arbitrum (Ethereum Layer 2) in 2021. Each mint produces a unique on-chain seed that generates six artworks — a high-resolution still image and two films (single walker and triple walker), each rendered on black and on white backgrounds — via a mathematical random walk algorithm.

A random walk is a process where each step moves in a random direction (up, down, left, or right), repeated millions of times. Three color channels drift in parallel with the walk, so composition and palette are generated together from the same seed. All artwork is released under CC0 (public domain); the on-chain token (seed, provenance, naming rights, game position) belongs exclusively to the wallet that holds it.

## The Vault Game (exact rules)

1. All ETH paid for minting goes into a vault inside the smart contract. The creators receive 0% — they minted early under the same rules as everyone else, and that is their only stake.
2. The most recent minter is the "keyholder" (contract: lastMinter).
3. If 30 days pass without a new mint, the keyholder may call withdraw() and receive HALF of all ETH in the contract (contract: withdrawalAmount, timeUntilWithdrawal).
4. Any new mint resets the 30-day clock and hands the key to the new minter.
5. After a withdrawal, the remaining half stays in the contract and the game continues with the next round.
6. The mint price rises about 0.1% per mint (a factor of 1.001, doubling roughly every 693 mints). There is no supply cap; the rising price is the only limit.
7. Because the pool accumulates every mint while the price grows slowly, the claimable prize remains several hundred times the current mint price (roughly 400x-450x).
8. The contract is immutable: no admin keys, no upgrade path, no way for anyone to change the rules or take ETH outside them.

## Live State (as of 2026-09-07)

- Works minted: 4,097
- Current mint price: 0.0905 ETH
- Vault prize (claimable by the last minter after 30 quiet days): 40.68 ETH
- Prize-to-mint-price ratio: about 450x
- Days until the current keyholder can withdraw: 22.9
- Current keyholder (last minter): 0xB2251e8fd8EbaA3882b5D121a29Db228A1a450eC
- Times the vault has ever been claimed since 2021: 0

## How the Art Is Generated

1. Read the token's 32-byte seed from the contract (function: seeds(tokenId)).
2. Expand the seed into a bit stream: repeatedly compute SHA3-256(initial_seed || previous_digest) and emit each digest's bits.
3. Take two bits per step to choose a direction (right, left, up, down) and walk until the path fills a 1.6:1 canvas (about 2400x1500 plus a 3% border) — typically millions of steps.
4. Generate three color channels, each drifting +/-1 per step, then normalize each to the 0-255 range; the i-th point of the path is drawn in the i-th RGB color.
5. Render the still image (black and white background variants) and two films: a single walker drawing the path in order, and three walkers drawing simultaneously.

The complete Python source, pinned dependencies, and step-by-step instructions are published at https://randomwalknft.com/code and stored on IPFS. Anyone can regenerate every artwork from on-chain data — the art does not depend on this website existing.

## Key Facts

- Blockchain: Arbitrum One (Ethereum L2), chain id 42161
- NFT contract (verified on Arbiscan): 0x895a6F444BE4ba9d124F61DF736605792B35D66b
- Launched: 2021
- License: CC0 Public Domain
- Contract source repository: https://github.com/PredictionExplorer/RandomWalkNftContracts
- Secondary marketplace: https://www.axiomzero.market/random-walk
- Gas cost per transaction on Arbitrum: typically under $0.10
- Admin keys: none — the creators follow the same rules as every participant

## Related Project: Cosmic Signature

Cosmic Signature (https://cosmicsignature.com/) is a procedural on-chain art protocol on Arbitrum built by the same team. Random Walk NFTs have live utility there:

- Anchor a Random Walk NFT on Cosmic Signature — without selling it — to become eligible for Anchored-NFT Stellar Selection, a cycle-end selection where chosen holders receive 1,000 CST (Cosmic Signature Token) and one Cosmic Signature NFT.
- Attach an unused Random Walk NFT to one ETH gesture to receive a one-time 50% reduction of the gesture cost. Each token can grant this discount once.

## Beauty Contest

The beauty score is a community-driven ranking. On the Beauty Contest page (https://randomwalknft.com/compare), visitors vote between two randomly selected artworks. Votes accumulate into a score per token, so the collection can be browsed by what the community finds most beautiful (https://randomwalknft.com/gallery?sortBy=beauty).

## Why Collectors Trust It

### The rules can never change

The smart contract that runs this collection has no admin keys and cannot be upgraded. Nobody — including the creators — can alter the rules, pause the game, or take ETH out of the vault by any path other than the one written into the code in 2021.

### Every wei goes into the vault

The creators take nothing from minting. All ETH paid for mints goes into the contract's prize pool, where the last-minter game decides who claims it. The creators minted early like everyone else — that is their only stake.

### The art belongs to everyone

Every artwork is released under CC0 — free for anyone to use, remix, or sell. What you own on-chain is the token itself: the seed, the provenance, the naming rights, and the place in the game.

### Anyone can rebuild the art

The Python program that turns seeds into images and films is open source and pinned on IPFS. If this website vanished tomorrow, every artwork could be regenerated from the chain by anyone, forever.

## Pages

- Home (museum overview + live vault state): https://randomwalknft.com/
- How It Works (full explainer: art, algorithm, game, verification): https://randomwalknft.com/how-it-works
- Gallery (browse the full collection, sort by newest or beauty): https://randomwalknft.com/gallery
- NFT Detail (per-token artwork, films, seed, provenance): https://randomwalknft.com/detail/[id]
- Mint (create a new NFT and take the vault key): https://randomwalknft.com/mint
- The Vault (live prize, countdown, keyholder, withdrawal): https://randomwalknft.com/vault
- Beauty Contest (vote on pairs): https://randomwalknft.com/compare
- Open Source (full generator source + IPFS): https://randomwalknft.com/code
- FAQ: https://randomwalknft.com/faq
- Random Image Viewer: https://randomwalknft.com/random
- Random Video Viewer: https://randomwalknft.com/random-video
- Marketplace (external, Axiom Zero): https://www.axiomzero.market/random-walk

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is Random Walk NFT?

Random Walk NFT is a generative art collection on Arbitrum, running since 2021. Each token is created from a unique on-chain seed that produces a still image and two video variants using a mathematical random walk algorithm. All artwork is CC0 (public domain), and every mint feeds an ETH vault that pays out to the last minter if minting pauses for 30 days.

### What is a random walk?

A random walk is a mathematical process where each step moves in a random direction — up, down, left, or right — repeated millions of times. Visualized, these paths create intricate abstract patterns. In this collection, three color channels drift in parallel with the walk, so the shape and the palette of every artwork are generated together from the same seed.

### How do I mint?

Install a wallet like MetaMask or Rabby, add some ETH on Arbitrum, connect your wallet on this site, and click Mint. The transaction creates your unique seed, and the artwork is generated automatically within a few minutes.

### How much does it cost to mint?

The mint price increases by roughly 0.1% after each mint, so it rises slowly as the collection grows. The current price is always displayed on the Mint page and read live from the contract. You will also need a small amount of ETH for Arbitrum gas fees, typically under $0.10.

### What do I receive when I mint?

You receive an on-chain NFT tied to a unique seed, which produces six works: a high-resolution still image and two films (a single walker and a triple walker), each rendered on black and on white backgrounds. You also become the vault keyholder — if nobody mints after you for 30 days, you can claim half the ETH in the vault.

### How does the Vault game work?

All ETH paid for minting goes into a vault inside the smart contract — the creators take nothing. The most recent minter holds the vault's only key. If 30 days pass without a new mint, the keyholder may withdraw half of everything inside. Any new mint resets the 30-day clock and hands the key to the new minter. After a withdrawal, the remaining half seeds the next round.

### How big is the vault prize?

The prize is dynamic and tied directly to minting activity: because the pool accumulates every mint while the price rises only 0.1% per mint, the claimable prize stays several hundred times the current mint price — roughly 400x to 450x. As the mint price grows, so does the potential reward. The exact live amount is shown on the Vault page and readable from the contract.

### Can I predict what my NFT will look like before minting?

No. The image is generated from a seed calculated at the moment of minting, using data that cannot be known in advance. This guarantees every piece is unique and unpredictable — for the minter and for everyone else.

### Is there a limit to how many Random Walk NFTs can be minted?

There is no hard cap. Instead, the mint price increases about 0.1% after every mint, which naturally limits the total number. Once minting becomes prohibitively expensive and pauses for 30 days, the last minter wins half the accumulated ETH.

### Who controls the project? Can the rules change?

Nobody controls it. The project is managed entirely by an immutable smart contract with no admin keys and no upgrade path. Neither the creators nor anyone else can change the rules, pause the game, or withdraw ETH outside the rules written into the contract at deployment in 2021.

### How do the creators make money?

They don't take fees. None of the ETH spent on minting goes to the creators — all of it goes into the vault. The only way the creators can benefit is if the NFTs they minted early, at low prices and under the same rules as everyone else, appreciate in value.

### What happens if the team disappears?

The project continues unchanged. The smart contract is autonomous and immutable, so minting, ownership, and the vault game keep working without anyone maintaining them. The image generator is open source and stored on IPFS, so anyone can regenerate every artwork from the on-chain seeds — even if this website goes offline.

### How are the artworks generated?

An open-source Python program reads your token's seed from the Arbitrum blockchain, expands it into a stream of random bits with SHA3-256, and walks millions of steps to draw the path while three color channels drift alongside. The full source, pinned dependencies, and instructions are published on the Open Source page and stored on IPFS.

### Can anyone use the generation program?

Yes. The generator is open source — anyone can run it to regenerate the images, verify their authenticity, or even build a competing site. This is deliberate: the art's existence does not depend on this website or its operators.

### What does CC0 mean for my NFT?

CC0 means the artwork is released into the public domain — anyone can use, remix, or redistribute it freely, including commercially. What you exclusively own is the on-chain token: the seed, the provenance, the naming rights, and its place in the vault game.

### Why is this on Arbitrum instead of Ethereum?

Arbitrum is an Ethereum Layer 2 that inherits Ethereum's security while offering far lower gas fees — typically under $0.10 per transaction — and faster confirmation. This keeps minting and collecting practical and affordable.

### Can I use my Random Walk NFT in other projects?

Yes. Random Walk NFTs have live utility in Cosmic Signature (cosmicsignature.com), a related on-chain art protocol on Arbitrum. You can anchor a token there — without selling it — to become eligible for Stellar Selection rewards of 1,000 CST and a Cosmic Signature NFT, or attach an unused token to one ETH gesture for a one-time 50% discount.

### What is Cosmic Signature?

Cosmic Signature is a procedural on-chain art protocol on Arbitrum, built by the same team as Random Walk NFT. Participants make gestures during Performance Cycles, and Random Walk NFT holders get special treatment: anchored tokens enter cycle-end selections, and unused tokens halve the cost of one ETH gesture.

### Where can I buy or sell Random Walk NFTs?

Secondary sales happen on Axiom Zero at https://www.axiomzero.market/random-walk. Listings, offers, and checkout are handled there, while this site remains the canonical place to mint, browse the collection, and view token media.

### What is the beauty score?

The beauty score is a community-driven ranking. On the Beauty Contest page, visitors vote between two randomly selected artworks. Over time, these votes produce a score for each token, so the collection can be browsed by what the community finds most visually compelling.

### Can I name my NFT?

Yes. Token owners can set a name on-chain from the token's detail page. The name is stored in the smart contract itself, so it travels with the token and appears wherever the collection is displayed.

### Are the smart contracts verified?

Yes. The NFT contract is verified and publicly readable on Arbiscan at 0x895a6F444BE4ba9d124F61DF736605792B35D66b. You can review every function, rule, and economic mechanism behind minting, ownership, naming, and the vault before interacting with the collection.

### How do I view my NFTs?

Connect your wallet and visit the My NFTs page from the account menu. You can also browse the Collection page and filter by your wallet address to see all tokens you own.

## Community

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RandomWalkNFT
- Discord: https://discord.gg/bGnPn96Qwt
- GitHub: https://github.com/PredictionExplorer/RandomWalkNftContracts