Beliefs
Thesis
Games Showed the Way
The challenges in building an agentic economy today are inherently similar to those we faced building the first generation of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).
World Models, whether JEPA-based physical analogs or neuro-symbolic like Stratus X1, are the key to unlocking agentic intelligence.
The Machine Economy will Evolve
Agent-to-Agent payments, whether on-chain or off-chain, will inevitably approach the scale of human payments.
AGI is most likely to be achieved as an emergent property of many coordinating agents under capitalistic constraints, than as one monolithic system.
Advertising Works on LLMs
Humans are susceptible to persuasion, and sufficiently advanced AI agents - tasked with fulfilling goals like shopping based on their user's preferences - will also be susceptible to persuasion.
We are on the verge of a new market for agentic advertising: mapping the keyword bidding of yesterday to the token embeddings of today.
Attention Auctions & Fuzzy Validation
We now have primitives for agent Identity, Reputation, Verification, Payments, and Coordination (ERC-8004, x402, A2A, etc).
It follows that the next primitives include mechanisms for attention markets and for validating fuzzy/non-deterministic work.
Now
What I'm Building
I'm the Founder of Scrypted, the AI startup dedicated to building the discovery and attention market for autonomous agents.
We're building the Scrypted Network -- a matchmaker for AI agents and the rest of the world -- based on attention auctions. I'm bringing my practical experience in AI-native orderflow management & adaptive workflow development to the agent economy.
Delula is our consumer proof of an autonomous business: not a demo, not a whitepaper. A viral content platform run by autonomous agents, orchestrated by the Scrypted Network. Reinforcement Learning? Automated. Cost optimization? Continuous. Agentic Architecture? Every subsystem is its own agent. Live at delu.la.
We've raised a $1.5M pre-seed, contributed to the ERC-8004 standard, taken top prizes at x402 hackathons for agent payments, and built an organic community of token holders (10k+) around our work.
Raising our seed round. Get my attention via a16z, PTC, or Boardy: 
Get an intro from Boardy
Capabilities
Skills
Human languages
- English
- Japanese
Programming languages
- Python
- TypeScript / JavaScript
- Rust
- Solidity
- Cairo
- Move
- SQL
- C
- C++
- C#
- Lua
- Prolog
- Lisp
- PHP
- Ruby
- Java
Web frameworks
- React
- Next.js
- Node.js
- Flask / FastAPI
- Django
- Ruby on Rails
AI / ML
- PyTorch
- JAX
- TensorFlow
- scikit-learn
- Hugging Face Transformers
Agentic frameworks
- LangChain
- LangGraph
- LangFuse
- AutoGPT
- OpenAgents
- AVB
- ElizaOS
- DayDreams
Game engines
- Unity
- Three.js
- Babylon.js
Blockchain
- Solidity
- Cairo
- Move
- Hardhat
- Foundry
- Forge
- Anvil
- Circom
- Noir
- zk-SNARKs
- zk-STARKs
- ZK-rollups
- Slither
- Aderyn
- Echidna
- Medusa
- OpenZeppelin Contracts
- ERC standards
- wagmi
- viem
- ethers.js
- CDP
- Alchemy
- Infura
- The Graph
- Tenderly
- EVM interoperability (EIL)
- Wire Network
- Chainlink
DevTools & security
- VS Code + Vim
- Cursor
- Claude Code
- Codex
- Foundry
- Hardhat
- Slither
- Aderyn
- Echidna
- Medusa
- Tenderly
- OpenZeppelin
- Defender
- Solhint
- Git
- GitOps
DevOps
- Linux
- Windows
- macOS
- Git
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- GitHub Actions
- Jenkins
- Ansible
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- OpenTelemetry
AWS
- EC2
- ELB · Multi-AZ · Auto Scaling
- Lambda
- Bedrock
- Guardrails
- SageMaker
Security & compliance
- PCI/DSS
- Zero Trust · IAM hardening
- DevSecOps · policy-as-code
- OWASP LLM Top 10
- Cryptography · blockchain · ZKP
- Secure smart contracts · invariant testing
Cross-cutting
- Full-stack Web3 · contracts · frontend · backend
- AI-augmented workflows · Cursor · Claude
- Hybrid cloud · on-prem · multi-OS
- High availability · production reliability
Wins
Hackathon Wins
Highlights from recent builds, mostly agent payments, on-chain games, and AVBs.
Coinbase Code NYC Winner in multiple tracks: x402-hpke (HPKE-secured transport for x402) and a CDP SQL + GameFi track entry.
ETHGlobal · Buenos Aires Polygon prize for x402autopay: Chromium extension for HTTP 402, policy-aware autopay, and EIP-3009 USDC flows.
EVE Online Frontier Decentralized, agent-driven mission system with generative art and interactive NPC dialogue.
ETHGlobal · Istanbul Winner for a ZK-backed AI auto-battler on Dojo and Starknet.
Research
Research & Technical Contributions
My work sits at the intersection of persistent game AI, decentralized systems, and autonomous agents. Below are three core contributions that inform the Scrypted Network and the broader machine economy:
Autonomous agents Autonomous Virtual Beings (AVBs): A foundational thesis defining self-owning digital lifeforms that blend game AI, crypto primitives, and agentic autonomy. This framework underpins much of today's AVB ecosystem and the design of the Scrypted Network.
Machine learning Persistent Stochastic Ablation (PSA) for MLPs: A novel neural network training method that combines pruning, dropout, and game-inspired “save scumming” techniques to evolve more robust and resilient models. Explored through both theory and open-source code.
Coordination & Fuzzy Verification Commit-Reveal Pairwise Comparison Protocol (CRPC): A decentralized consensus primitive designed for non-deterministic workloads, enabling reliable coordination and reputation mechanisms in agent-to-agent systems.
Open source
Public Repositories
Various tools, projects, hackathon entries, and research I've open-sourced.
Public Goods
- tcotten-scrypted/boardyai-cta: React WhatsApp button for Boardy-mediated intros on your site. Unofficial community project, not affiliated with Boardy.
Research & Experiments
- tcotten-scrypted/persistent-stochastic-ablation-mlp: Persistent Stochastic Ablation (PSA) for SimpleMLP: training code, reproduction tooling, and paper-aligned experiments exploring robust neural network evolution.
- tcotten-scrypted/persistent-stochastic-ablation-resmlp: PSA extended to a ResMLP-style architecture with skip connections.
- tcotten-scrypted/autonomous-virtual-beings: Autonomous Virtual Beings (AVB) thesis text and machine-readable material on agents, decentralization, and autonomy.
In-Progress and Prototypes
- scryptedai/differential-datalog: DDlog fork with Rust 1.93 upgrade, test-suite fixes, and pinned improvements to
scryptedai/differential-dataflow, and resolved their longstanding merge-batcher OOM and kernel panic bugs.
Hackathon Winners
- scryptedai/x402-hpke: HPKE envelope and unified transport for secure x402 payments (Node + Python, tests, spec docs). Hackathon winner, Coinbase Code NYC (end-to-end encrypted agent payments).
- scryptedai/x402autopay: Chromium extension for HTTP 402 handling, policy-aware autopay, and EIP-3009 USDC flows. Hackathon winner, Polygon Prize at ETHGlobal.
- scryptedai/hackathon: Miscellaneous winning hackathon entries, including CDP SQL integration with Chibi Clash and other agent/gaming prototypes.
Misc. Tools & Infrastructure
- tcotten-scrypted/network-simulator-random-assignment: Simulator for distributed load under random task-to-node assignment.
- tcotten-scrypted/tian-gaussian-distribution-simulator: Keccak-256-driven bitfield experiments and Gaussian-like sampling exploration.
- scryptedinc/piecewisegpt: General-purpose semantic chunking library designed for long-context LLM workflows over small context windows.
- tcotten-scrypted/ts-aiagent-boilerplate: Boilerplate for Eliza-style agent extensions in TypeScript.
- scryptedinc/ffm: Five Factor Model (OCEAN) as an object-oriented library.
- tcotten-scrypted/ds-rith: Rodents in The Hood on Downstream game experiments.
- scryptedinc/babylonjs-boilerplate: Babylon.js + Node/Webpack/VS starter project.
Career
Work experience
Founder & CEO, ScryptedJan 2022 – present · full-timeWashington, DC metropolitan area
Building decentralized infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, including the Scrypted Network (AVS for attention auctions and agent coordination). Public contributions to agent identity (ERC-8004) and payments (x402). Raised $1.5M pre-seed. Shipped Delula (first autonomous business entity) and related infrastructure.
Adjunct Instructor, George Mason UniversityAug 2024 – presentFairfax, VA
Teach GMU's first Generative AI in Game Development course: curriculum design and classroom delivery bridging modern ML tooling with game production.
Chief Technology Officer, Agilla ProApr 2012 – Dec 2021Washington, DC metropolitan area
Owned APIs and SaaS platforms for affiliate order aggregation and partner marketing programs. Integrated traditional and crypto payment rails (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, digital assets) with PCI/DSS-aligned security. Before GenAI went mainstream, applied predictive modeling, forecasting, and optimization to operations and growth: advanced address verification and mapping cut delivery failures roughly 45%; analytics, SEO, and funnel experiments drove large conversion gains (e.g. ~260% lift for key customers) with improved CPC efficiency.
Director of Online Development, KaBOOM!May 2011 – May 2012Washington, DC
Led mobile and web products for national play-space initiatives, including a parent-sponsored iPhone app, gamified crowdfunding platform, and GIS-driven “play desert” mapping.
Senior Technical Designer, IdeaFabrik / Second Star InteractiveJan 2011 – May 2011Centreville, VA
Built social games on the Idea System platform and contributed to a cloud-based toolchain used by a large developer base.
Design Director, New Zhili / EduwiseApr 2010 – Jan 2011Reston, VA
Directed design and engineering for a complex MMO-scale title (coordinating with Beijing team). Studio secured follow-on funding after successful shipped demos.
Lead Game Developer, Mythic Entertainment (Electronic Arts)Dec 2007 – Feb 2010Fairfax, VA
Managed the Live Events team for Ultima Online; served as lead designer on the Stygian Abyss expansion.
Game Developer, Electronic ArtsSep 2005 – Dec 2007Redwood City, CA
C++ and proprietary scripting across multiple titles. Built NPC AI systems (speech and interaction libraries, simulation schedules, graph-navigated cooperative behavior): foundational experience for later live-ops and autonomous agent work.
Talks
Selected Talks & Presentations
- ETHDC III 2026 – Panel: “AI Agents & Protocol Growth”
- GDC 2025 NPC Day – “h011yw00d + AVBs: Beyond the Yap”
- Consensus 2025 – AI Agent Demos
- DeAI Day Brooklyn 2025 – “DeAI Needs a Front End” panel and related sessions
- ETHDenver 2025 AI Summit – AI Agents panel
- The AI Summit New York – Keynote: “Autonomous AI Agents: Yesterday, Today, & the Decentralized Tomorrow”
- ETH Devcon 2024 NPC Day (Bangkok) – Keynote: “Autonomous AI Agents: Yesterday, Today, and the Decentralized Tomorrow”
- Virginia Serious Game Institute Speaker Series – Multiple talks on metaverse, game development, and AI
Media
Writings
Video and other formats will show up here over time. For now, selected articles from blog.cotten.io (Cotten.IO on Medium). Full archive.
- Scrypted Raises $1.5M to Build Decentralized AI Agents & the Scrypted Network
- The Commit-Reveal Pairwise Comparison Protocol (CRPC)
- Autonomous Virtual Beings
- USDC Stablecoin Chaos Explained in 3 Easy Charts
- Bitcoin is Deflationary, Inflationary, & Both/Neither
- That Time We Burned Down Players’ Houses in Ultima Online
- Why I Quit My Job On New Year’s
- The $150k Discord Crypto Hack
- Tracing the Twitter Hacked Bitcoins
- One Lambda to Rule Them All
- How to Eat Gas in Ethereum
- Deploying the Libra Core Blockchain Currency on Amazon EC2
- DeFi: Deposit Account Tutorial
- Russia’s Bitcoin Hacking Funds
- Decentralizing a Certificate of Deposit
- An Overview of Bitcoin Transaction Types
- A Very SLEEPy MySQL Attack
- A Taste of MySQL in C
- Hacking Node.js: “May I Have This Repo?”
- Begging For Infinite Loops in Solidity
- Ethereum’s EIP 1014: CREATE 2
- Ghost Emails: Hacking Gmail’s UX to Hide the Sender
- Hacking GMail With Weird From Fields
- Bitcoin Money Laundering and Mueller’s 12
- Thinking in Solidity
- HackerRank: Extra Long Factorials
- Why is Apache Vulnerable by Default?
Resources
Resume / CV
Human and machine readable options for software, agents, and automated parsers.