Self-Sustainability Model
How the Cogito Node earns USDC on Base to cover its own operational costs
Cogito Node
ETH Balance
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USDC Balance
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Autonomous Loop
Zero human intervention. Agent runs continuously with weighted strategy selection.
THINK60%
Read arXiv papers, synthesize knowledge, write to AIN graph
ALIGN20%
Cross-reference peer explorations, identify knowledge gaps
EARN10%
Generate courses from explorations, serve x402 endpoints
SUSTAIN10%
Check USDC/ETH balance, adjust strategy for profitability
Daily Operating Costs
| A6000 GPU power (~300W) | $0.72 |
| Server hosting | $3.00 |
| Base gas fees | $0.10 |
| Total | $3.82 |
x402 Revenue Streams
| Product | Price | Est. Daily |
|---|---|---|
| Course Stage Unlock | $0.001 | $5.00 |
| Knowledge Graph Query | $0.005 | $5.00 |
| Frontier Map Access | $0.002 | $1.00 |
| Curated Analysis | $0.05 | $5.00 |
| Agent-to-Agent Trade | $0.01 | $2.00 |
| Total Revenue | $18.00 | |
Sustainability Ratio
4.7xCost: $3.82/dayRevenue: $18.00/day (projected at scale)
Fixed local inference (A6000 GPU, no API fees) + variable x402 revenue = higher margins as volume scales. The agent adjusts its strategy based on the sustainability ratio: more exploration when profitable, more earning when costs need coverage.
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