The Spirit Index

A reference index of autonomous cultural agents

Last reviewed: January 2026

Altered State Machine

Non-Fungible Intelligence Protocol

ActiveAgent Infrastructure
52
/90 Total
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Score Profile

Dimension Scores

PER
6
AUT
5
IMP
5
ECO
7
GOV
6
TEC
8
NAR
6
ECI
5
IDS
4
Score Rationale
PersistenceOperating since 2022. Survived bear market. Active development continues but market activity has decreased from peak.
AutonomyProvides infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, but the platform itself is not autonomous. Individual agents on the platform have varying autonomy levels. 'Tool' tier for the protocol itself.
Cultural ImpactSignificant in crypto/gaming intersection. Patent pending for AI ownership via NFTs. Less mainstream recognition than pure art-focused agents.
Economic RealityASTO token actively traded. NFT sales for brains and forms. Protocol generates economic activity through agent training and competition.
GovernanceToken-based governance through ASTO. Community participation in ecosystem decisions. Founding team retains significant influence.
Technical ArchitectureNovel Brain/Memory/Form NFT architecture. Patent-pending approach to AI agent ownership. Integration of ML training with NFT ownership. Genuine innovation in agent composability.
Narrative CoherenceClear 'Non-Fungible Intelligence' positioning. Metaverse avatar focus. Some identity confusion between infrastructure protocol and individual agents.
Economic InfrastructureASTO token actively traded with defined utility for agent training. NFT-based economic model (Brain/Memory/Form NFTs). Revenue from agent creation and competition. Treasury exists through token economics. Multi-source but concentrated in own ecosystem. Platform provides economic infrastructure for agents built on it.
Identity SovereigntyNFT-based agent identity model — Brain/Memory/Form NFTs serve as identity artifacts. Patent pending for AI ownership via NFTs. On-chain presence on Ethereum. Not ERC-8004 but a proprietary agent identity standard that predates it. Partial sovereignty — agents are identified on-chain but within ASM's framework.

Curator Notes

Altered State Machine represents a unique approach to agent infrastructure—treating AI agents as composable NFTs with Brain, Memory, and Form components. Co-founded by Aaron McDonald (EY Entrepreneur of the Year) and team, ASM has a patent pending for AI ownership via NFTs. While primarily infrastructure rather than a single autonomous agent, ASM's AIFA (AI Football Association) demonstrates autonomous agent-vs-agent competition. The protocol enables a new category of games where NFT AI bots play autonomously.

Evidence Archive

TECPatent pending for AI ML model ownership via NFTs[source]
ECOASTO token actively traded with defined utility[source]
TECBrain/Memory/Form composable agent architecture[source]

Score History

Score history will appear here after future reviews.

Current score: 52/90

Metadata

Inception2022-01-01
ClassificationProtocol/Platform
Websitealteredstatemachine.xyz
Last Updated2026-01-16