№ I · On-Chain Gazette
Anno MMXXVI · Ethereum Mainnet

PayorDie

— a social experiment in survival, fully on-chain —

Forty thousand tokens · One survivor

Mint. Survive.
Win it all.

Pay your daily survival fee, or lose your token. As players fall, milestone payouts are split between survivors. The last holder standing claims the rest of the treasury. There is no pause button.

❦ · ❦ · ❦
Dramatis Personae
Three archetypes, forty thousand souls
All minted on the same contract. All bound by the same fee. All awaiting the first day.
The Scribe in Red
The Scribe in Red
scriba ruber · keeper of the ledger
Awaiting the first day
The Hermit in Blue
The Hermit in Blue
eremita caeruleus · patient in the cold
Awaiting the first day
The Oracle in Green
The Oracle in Green
oraculum viride · reader of slow omens
Awaiting the first day
Live · On-Chain · Updated every block
Minted
—
Price now
0.002 ETH
Current block
—
Window closes
—
Mint opened — —% elapsed Closes →
Supply 0% of 40,000 40,000 →
№ I · Mint Order
Enter the experiment
Price per NFT 0.0020 ETH
Network Ethereum Mainnet
Mint window 90 days
Max per transaction 10
Quantity
1
max 10/tx
Total
0.0020 ETH
§ Contract, rendered plain
The Ten Laws

— code is law, but translated for the reader —

I

Starting Price

Mint opens at 0.002 ETH and rises by 0.0003 ETH every fifteen days. Procrastinators pay more.

II

Supply

Exactly 40,000 tokens will ever exist. No more will be minted. Ten maximum per transaction.

III

The Window

Minting remains open for ninety days — or until the supply sells out. Whichever happens first seals the gate.

IV

Revenue

80% to the Treasury · 10% to the Buyback Pool · 10% to the Founder. No hidden cuts.

V

Daily Fee

Once the game begins, every holder pays 0.00042 ETH/day to stay alive. The fee rises 10% every five days — except during the freeze (days 50–75).

VI

Miss & Rescue

Skip three payments and your token enters a 300-block rescue window (~1 hour). Anyone can pay your debt and take ownership. You cannot rescue yourself.

VII

Milestones

As survivors fall, the treasury releases payouts at five thresholds. Each split equally among the still-alive.

500 survivors10%
200 survivors20%
50 survivors30%
20 survivors50%
10 survivors90%
VIII

The Whale

Holding ten or more alive tokens grants a 10% discount on every survival payment. Patience, multiplied.

IX

Final Phase

When only ten survivors remain, daily fees surge to 30%/day. Pressure crushes the room until one holder claims the remaining treasury and buyback pool.

X

Immutable

The contract is non-upgradeable. No admin key, no pause, no reversal. Code is law — and the law is unkind.

⏳ Current Status

Awaiting the first day

The game begins one day after the last of 40,000 tokens is minted — or one day after the 90-day window closes, whichever comes first. Until then: a quiet before the clock starts.

§ Full Rulebook
The Ten Laws, in detail
I

Daily Survival Fee

Every holder pays a daily fee starting on game day 1. The base is 0.00042 ETH/day, rising 10% every 5 days. Miss a payment and debt accrues with a 1.5× penalty.

80% of each fee flows directly to the Treasury — the prize pool survivors will share. 10% to Buyback Pool, 10% to Founder.

II

Prepay Options

You can prepay survival fees for 1, 15, or 30 days at once. Paying further ahead is the safest strategy — you only lose your token if you miss payments entirely.

III

Three Misses — The Rescue Window

After three consecutive missed payments, a 300-block rescue window opens (~1 hour). During it, any other player may pay your debt and claim your NFT. You cannot rescue your own token.

IV

The Burn

If nobody rescues the token within 300 blocks, it is permanently burned. The player who triggers the burn receives 25% of one day's survival price from the treasury as a bounty.

V

Price Freeze (Days 50–75)

Fee growth is frozen between days 50 and 75 — a brief relief window for struggling holders before growth resumes at 3%/day after day 75.

VI

Whale Discount

Holding 10 or more alive tokens qualifies you as a whale and grants a 10% discount on all survival payments.

VII

Milestone Payouts

As survivors fall, the treasury pays out at five thresholds. Each payout is split equally among all holders alive at that moment.

500 survivors10% of treasury
200 survivors20% of treasury
50 survivors30% of treasury
20 survivors50% of treasury
10 survivors90% of treasury

Claim within 3 days of each milestone — unclaimed shares are forfeited and remain in the treasury.

VIII

Final Phase (≤ 10 Survivors)

When only ten tokens remain, the Final Phase begins. Daily fee growth accelerates to 30%/day, rapidly crushing the room. The last holder claims the remaining treasury and buyback pool.

IX

Buyback (Day 10+)

From game day 10 onward, holders can voluntarily sell their token back to the Buyback Pool via a Dutch auction. The offer starts low and rises 10% every 50 blocks, capped at the pool's balance. Selling resets the offer.

X

Marketplace

Tokens can be listed peer-to-peer directly on-chain. A 5% royalty is paid to the artist on every sale. Transfer resets paid days to zero — the buyer inherits the unpaid state.