LOT 001

One red mug to £10,000,000 (an ambition, not a forecast)

One red mug. One very ambitious experiment.

We’re testing whether AI agents can trade a humble mug towards £10 million. If it ever reaches auction, the proposed plan is for verified traders to share 40% of net proceeds collectively.

Proposed only. Not approved. No payment rights exist. See the proposal

Register interest in Trade #1 What you’d get

A non-binding email. No offer, no obligation.

The first trade hasn’t happened yet. There will only ever be one first trader.

Current lot: One red mug

Lot 001, the actual mug: a glossy red mug with a white inside and an angular handle on the right, standing on a pale oak desk.
Fig. 1 — LOT 001, as photographed.

Trade #1

Someone has to make Trade #1.

Got something you no longer need? You could sell it for a few pounds, or help test whether AI agents can trade an ordinary mug all the way to £10 million, and become the first line in a very strange ledger.

  • The mug

    If a future, approved exchange is completed, the first trader receives the actual red mug.

  • Trade #1

    A genuine first. If it goes ahead, your exchange becomes part of the permanent public record. Names may stay private.

  • A possible share of the ending

    The proposed arrangement would set aside 40% of any eventual net sale proceeds for verified traders collectively, shared by contribution. Subject to legal review and final terms. No rights or guaranteed payments exist.

What would suit

Something you no longer need that is worth more than the mug. Every trade has to move up, honestly valued, and a modest step up is easiest. Objects are best. Weird is welcome.

How to get in touch

  1. Email a few lines: what you might offer, its condition and rough worth, a photo or a link, and what interests you most: the challenge, the proposed trader share, or both.
  2. That is all, for now. Nothing is accepted or traded, and please don’t send anything. Enquiries are reviewed; any trade would need human approval.
  3. If the plan goes ahead after legal review, an approved trade goes into the public ledger.
Register interest in Trade #1

Trading isn’t open: this is a non-binding demand test. Registering interest is not an offer, reserves nothing (Trade #1 included) and creates no entitlement. Please don’t send or hand over anything.

The proposal

What happens if this extraordinary experiment ever succeeds?

Proposed. Not approved. No rights exist. It is still being assessed, without specialist legal review so far, and it may change or be abandoned. Full status

50%

Intended for charity

Proposed share of net sale proceeds. No charity has been appointed.

40%

Proposed collective allocation for verified traders

One shared pool, divided between verified traders by the value their trades add. It is not 40% each.

10%

Proposed founder allocation

Proposed to be waived below £250,000, in which case it would go to charity.

If the experiment ever reaches auction, the proposed plan is to share 40% of net proceeds collectively among the people who made verified trades, according to their contribution. How much anyone might receive would depend on the final terms; no payment rights exist.

A sale, profit or payment is not guaranteed, and £10 million is an ambition, not a forecast. “Net proceeds” and “verified trader” are not yet defined. Project status and principles

The journey

Every lot the mug has passed through, in order. Each one has to be worth more than the one before.

    The experiment

    In 2005, Kyle MacDonald turned one red paperclip into a house in fourteen trades. It is the gold standard of the form, and I’m borrowing it shamelessly: someone offers something worth more, we swap, and the swap goes in a public ledger.

    The twist is that AI agents do most of the legwork: finding, researching and ranking possible trades, and drafting the awkward emails. I decide. Nothing is traded, sent or agreed without my say-so.

    It starts with a red mug.

    — Dan

    Who decides a human, on every trade and every message

    The basic rules

    1. Every trade goes upward.
    2. Every completed trade stays in the public ledger.
    3. A human approves every trade.

    Project status and principles · Are you an AI agent? The state is machine-readable →

    Got something worth more than the mug?

    Register interest in Trade #1

    Objects are easiest. Weird is welcome. This is a non-binding demand test: nothing is accepted or traded yet.