Machine readable asset intelligence

Understand the asset. Follow the evidence.

RUTHVEN is building an asset intelligence OS for people and AI agents, connecting what an asset is, where it comes from and the evidence behind it. Our first live deployment is PAPER TRAIL: 4,000 artworks by Miss AL Simpson, each carrying a RUTHVEN Origin Passport.

People read it as a document. Machines read it as data.

Explore PAPER TRAIL Read an Origin Passport

RUTHVEN ORIGIN

For new works, recorded at creation.

The record is made at the moment a work is made: what it is, what it was made from, the hashes of its files and the evidence behind every statement, then pinned to IPFS and anchored on Ethereum.

PAPER TRAIL #1140, by Miss AL Simpson
Example · Origin PassportIssued · anchored
PAPER TRAIL #1140
Creator
Miss AL Simpson, 2026Copyright: MISS AL SIMPSON LIMITED
Made from
16 pieces: 12 cut from 11 of her earlier works, 4 from material made for this collectionArchive span 2020–2026, across 9 bodies of work
Evidence
16 claims, each with its source5 checked against bytes or chain · 8 from the studio's own record · 3 calculated
Recorded
At creation, 1 Oct 2026Files pinned to IPFS · anchored on Ethereum 2 Oct 2026
Read the Passport →As data →

RUTHVEN LEGACY

For works that already exist.

A record written afterwards for a work already minted, from what can still be proved: the chain, the token's own record, the files and the preservation done since. What cannot be proved is shown as missing.

Lodia Readthoughts, Soulbrd 1, by Miss AL Simpson
Example · Legacy PassportDraft · not yet issued
Lodia Readthoughts · Soulbrds, 2022
Provenance
Minted to the artist's wallet on 14 December 2022, in the transaction that deployed her contractToken 1 of 600 · still held by the artist · the contract has no recall, freeze or burn power
The files
Artwork and token document read back from Arweave, 2 Oct 2026The artwork's fingerprint equals the artist's original, byte for byte
Preservation
On Arweave since 19 March 2023, moved there by the artist on 21 March 2023Where the tokens pointed before that day is not yet recorded
Licence
None written into the contractFor the artist to record, as her own statement, before issue
Ask about a Legacy Passport →
First live deployment

PAPER TRAIL

4,000 artworks by Miss AL Simpson. Each with a RUTHVEN Origin Passport.

Every Passport is pinned to IPFS. Every one carries a Merkle root over its evidence. The collection root is anchored on Ethereum. Any work can be checked against the chain.

PAPER TRAIL brings RUTHVEN’s asset intelligence into a live NFT collection, connecting each artwork with its origins and supporting evidence, for people and AI agents to explore. Digital art is our starting point; RUTHVEN’s ambition extends across digital assets.

The machine reassembling PAPER TRAIL #0677 from its sources. From the artist’s film.
  • Pinned to IPFSEvery Passport, with its evidence files, is pinned as a provenance package. Its address is a fingerprint of its contents: change a byte and the address changes.
  • Verified by Merkle rootEach Passport carries an evidence root over its own claims and files. The 4,000 Passports, each by its own hash, are combined into one collection root, 0x16770c75…00b7f9, set on Ethereum in the RuthvenAnchor registry at block 26,102,679.
  • Checked against the chainAny single Passport can be proved to belong to the anchored set from its Merkle proof and the root on Ethereum. Verify a work · the roots and block numbers.
Explore PAPER TRAIL →

PAPER TRAIL deployment record. Each figure is a completed step, linked to its evidence.

How it works

A record, its evidence, and checks anyone can run.

Every Origin Passport is built in three layers. The detail, from Merkle roots to block numbers, is on the developer page.

  1. 01

    The asset record

    What the work is, who made it, what it was made from and how. Each statement is kept with who made it, when, and what kind of evidence it rests on. Corrections are added beside the old entry, never over it.

  2. 02

    Its supporting evidence

    The files, hashes and source records behind each statement, published with the work so a person or an agent can follow any claim back to what supports it.

  3. 03

    Independent checks

    The files are pinned to IPFS and the issued Passports are anchored on Ethereum, so anyone can confirm that a record is the one issued, and unchanged, without asking RUTHVEN.

What a check proves. It shows that a claim appears in the record as issued. It does not, by itself, make the claim true; each claim says what it rests on, so you can judge it.

Verify a work
The Origin Passport today

What it covers now.

The Origin Passport is made for works recorded at creation. Its scope is deliberate, and it is marked on every page.

  • What the work is, and its number in the collection
  • Who made it, and who holds the copyright
  • The earlier works it was cut from, piece by piece, in the order laid down
  • The hashes of its files, and where to fetch them
  • The evidence behind every statement, and what kind of evidence it is
Missing information is shown

It shows its gaps.

Anything a reader is not shown is counted on the face of the Passport. A record with quiet gaps looks complete and is not; this one says what it does not hold.

Present boundaries. A Passport does not price a work or advise on it. Custody: RUTHVEN holds no keys and takes custody of no asset; the PAPER TRAIL anchor was set by the artist's own wallet.

For people and AI agents

The same record, for a machine reader.

Every Passport is also served as data. An agent can read a work's record, follow each claim to its evidence, and take away a proof it can check itself. Every door is read-only.

About

Built from an artist’s own archive.

RUTHVEN AI LIMITED is an asset intelligence company in Edinburgh, founded in 2026 by Scottish artist Miss AL Simpson.

RUTHVEN grew out of her own archive. Since 2019, Simpson has created and minted more than twelve thousand works across Ethereum. In February 2025, her work sold at Sotheby’s New York in the Contemporary Discoveries sale.

But the larger the archive became, the harder a simple question became to answer: what, exactly, is this asset? Where did it come from? Which files belong to it? What is its provenance? What can still be independently proved? And can a machine understand all of that reliably?

RUTHVEN was built to answer those questions.

PAPER TRAIL is its first live collection recorded from creation: 4,000 works, each with its own RUTHVEN Origin Passport and machine-readable record.

In 2026, the Digital Assets (Scotland) Act confirmed the status of qualifying digital assets as property in Scots law. RUTHVEN is being built in Edinburgh at precisely this moment, as ownership of digital assets gains greater legal clarity.

RUTHVEN does not hold keys, take custody, price assets or tell anyone what to buy.

It reads. It records. It proves.

Beyond PAPER TRAIL

PAPER TRAIL is one artist's collection. The OS is for many.

We are looking for partners who make, hold or look after digital assets and want them understood accurately, by people and by agents.

Talk to us about a deployment info@ruthven.ai · artists, studios, galleries, collections, platforms and archives
Who

RUTHVEN AI LIMITED is an asset intelligence company in Edinburgh, founded by Miss AL Simpson.

Contact

info@ruthven.ai

@ruthvenai on X