The story
Crystals are nature’s silent sculptures, born in the depths of the Earth and crafted over millions of years. Each is a masterpiece of form and energy, frozen in time yet alive with the universe’s rhythms. Their diverse forms and habit structures—whether the sharp angles of quartz, the delicate clusters of amethyst, or the smooth facets of calcite—capture the imagination.
The colors of these crystals, ranging from deep sapphire blues and vibrant ruby reds to earthy greens and luminous whites, reflect the unique mineral compositions and environmental conditions under which they were formed. Each hue tells a story of the Earth’s history, while the play of light within these structures reveals dynamic behaviors, such as the way they refract light or exhibit transparency and opalescence.
Grailstone is an interactive 3D project that strongly evokes the appearance of these sculptures through exquisite crystal-like forms, inspired by their natural counterparts.
Building on the foundation laid by Raystone, a project released in April 2024, Grailstone deepens the exploration of form and advanced 3D techniques. The project invites users to engage with intricate and extensive interactive objects that evolve over time, transforming into a variety of shapes and structures that appear organic and alive.
Grailstone embodies the essence of nature while merging the pulse of the Bitcoin blockchain and generative art into a living, breathing experience.
The Process
Grailstones are very rare entities. Collecting one requires courage — 3 RayStones need to be sacrificed in exchange to create one Grailstone.
Inscribing Grailstone is just the beginning!
Every action counts. When you inscribe. Which satoshi you inscribe on.
Newly inscribed Grailstone may be small and shy. It needs time and care to reveal it’s full potential.
Every Grailstone is different. Some will develop quickly, bursting with potential after just a few days, while other may keep their personality hidden for a long time. It starts growing immediately after being inscribed.
Every visible stage takes 128 blocks, which is approximately 21 hours of human time. It means every 128 blocks passed you will see the development of your Grailstone. There are 64 stages in total.
Growth is partially determined by the particular Grailstone personality, but largely affected by the blockchain itself, e.g.: transaction count, timestamp and hash of the particular block, and thus can’t be predicted.
Grailstone will grow for 8192 Bitcoin blocks, which is approximately 8 weeks. Then it will reach maturity and reveal its full potential.
Grailstone also recognizes its satoshi and tries harder to grow rarer. It’s familiar with:
- vintage (all sats with number lower than 5 000 000 000 000)
- alpha/omega
- palindrome
- uncommon and black uncommon sats
Every now and then each Grailstone has a chance of getting a Hidden Feature. They are dependent on Bitcoin blockchain activity, thus can’t be predicted. However, inscribing your Grailstone on a special sat increases the chance to be blessed.
In total there are 4 Hidden Features (described below). They are independent of each other and stackable – you can get all of them.
Each Grailstone grows at its own pace, often unaware of the tribe around it.
But once in a while, when the half-moon light touches the blockchain, they gather in anticipation, awaiting the blessing of Bitcoin and the Mempool spirits.
The spirits call for sacrifice.
You have already offered your first gift — selecting special, precious sats to nurture your Grailstones.The second part involves offering sats as fees on a specific block to honor the Governors. Governors thrive on crowds and activity; the more they receive, the more they sway the spirits of the Blockchain.
But fear not! Watch over your Grailstone.
Will it be blessed with a unique Hidden Trait?
Features
Grailstone has a rich feature set that creates a wide variety of outputs: 4 crystal Thicknesses and 9 Structures, 23 color Palettes, 5 configurations of Gallery Walls with 3 materials, and a myriad of unrecorded traits.
Thickness
Crystal Thickness shapes the overall impression, whether the Grailstone feels delicate and ethereal or more massive and static.
This trait connects with the crystal count too. Slim Grailstones sparkle with an abundance, while Bold ones stand with fewer crystals.
Crystal thickness: Slim, Regular, Bold, and Mixed.
Examples:
Crystal Structure
The growth pattern and crystal spatial distribution: Cluster, Burst, Elestial, Radial, Aggregator, Flower, Reticulated, Chaotic, and Geode.
Examples:
Cluster
Crystals grow from a common base, forming something like a bouquet—the most archetypal structure.
Burst
Burst gives the impression of crystals shooting out from within the rock. It’s an asymmetrical composition with a strikingly dynamic and densely packed bunch of crystals.
Radial
The crystals are arranged radially in a vertical plane with slight deviations, resembling a fan.
Reticulated
Reticulated Grailstones are truly unpredictable! They can form intricate, filigree-like compositions or cluster into a gleaming mass. Crystals grow upon one another, branching out in unexpected way.
Elestial
A harmonious, vertical alignment of tightly packed crystals evokes the image of a crown. This arrangement feels regal, with each element reinforcing the next in a cohesive form.
Chaotic
“Chaotic” Grailstones combines characteristics of both “Reticulated” and “Cluster” with a hint of randomness. Base crystals grow from a common base, but rebellious elements emerge in various directions and sizes.
Aggregator
In the “Aggregator” structure all crystals grow from a single point. Compact and organized, the structure shifts in feel depending on the crystal thickness — sometimes sharp and dynamic, other times dense and heavy.
Flower
“Flower” presents a unique top-down view of a crystal, with a distinct central element surrounded by intricate details and elongated “petals”.
Geode
The most unusual and the last Grailstone structure. In Geode, crystals grow spherically from a single point, expanding in multiple directions. Rather than forming a singular object, they create a dynamic, spatial composition of scattered individual elements.
Gallery Walls
Every Grailstone is presented within its own Gallery. Gallery can have 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 walls. The more walls, the more complex background; no hard-coded probability bias.
Example — Gallery Walls: 4 & 12:
Background
Gallery Walls material: Dark, Glass and Color — 20% probability of Dark, 30% probability of Glass.
Examples:
Dark
Glass
Color
Palette
There are 23 color palettes encoded in the project.
Wavy Crystal
Distorted, more organic geometry.
The first Grailstone outputs were straight and flawless, but something was missing. I started experimenting with coding geometry deformers… and things quickly spiraled out of control!
That’s how the “Wavy Crystal” was born. It can subtly bend crystals or twist them into shining tangles. And, of course, everything in between.
Examples:
HIDDEN FEATURE: ⦿ Dark Matter
Dark Matter bends the canvas of the reality. It can affect the whole realm – Space – or just the background – Background; probability determined by blockchain and a special sat.
Examples — Space and Background:
HIDDEN FEATURE: ⦿ Transcendence
Displays parts of the Grailstone code on the Gallery Walls. Code density is Level 1 to Level 7; probability determined by blockchain and a special sat.
Examples:
MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!
Technical specs:
- long-form generative 3D experience
- resolution agnostic
- 25 716 bytes of JavaScript with recursive call to P5.js; collection – delegated inscriptions
- Original inscribed on black uncommon sat 1884835624999999.
Interaction
[click/touch + drag] — rotate[scroll/pinch] — zoom[S] — save image[H] or [3 fingers tap] — toggle quality (low quality, but high performance is default setting)[long press] — toggle orientation interaction on mobile devices; to experience this feature go to https://ordinals.com/content/inscription_ID_or_number [console] – check console for traits table
