TL;DR: Zerion Genesis NFTs, which currently give holders the ability to trade on Zerion without any additional fees, will soon be merged with Zerion DNA. This means the cheaper trading benefit will be attached to users’ Zerion DNA. Any Genesis NFTs bought after May 18th at 11:59 PM UTC will not be able to merge with Zerion DNA.

Last year, we announced a Zerion fees for swaps, sending proceeds into treasury-like reserves for our decentralized future. Those multisigs now hold over 200 ETH!

When we shared our plans, we also wanted to create a way for our earliest supporters to trade more affordably on Zerion.

Enter Zerion Genesis NFTs.

Originally conceived as a fun experiment, we decided to give holders of NFTs in the Genesis Collection the ability to swap without additional fees from Zerion.

This was both about giving back to loyal community members as well as testing a unique reward method NFTs offer: membership benefits.

Much like BAYC or other major NFT projects, we saw our NFTs as a route to making our product more attractive to users by offering exclusive opportunities and unique experiences only available to holders and members.

Now it’s time to take the next step.

Genesis. Meet DNA.

Since we launched Genesis, our community has grown to more than 600k connected wallets and 150k Zerion Wallets, but the collection supply is fixed. This means new users had only one route to getting a cheaper trading experience with Zerion: buy a Genesis NFT on the secondary market.

This couldn’t scale, and we found a solution hidden right under our nose: Zerion DNA.

Zerion DNA was released alongside our wallet last May and featured generative traits that change with users’ on-chain actions. Its supply is uncapped, meaning that it is open to all users, and we were already using it as a members club.

As we began to recognize the power of DNA within the Zerion ecosystem, we came up with an exciting idea: merging the benefits of Genesis with Zerion DNA to create a premium membership tier.

Zerion Members Have Entered the Chat

Since we launched Genesis, our thinking has evolved about what NFTs can be and how to reward holders. Essentially, we see Zerion NFTs as important membership passes that can unlock exciting whitelisting opportunities, exclusive perks, and attractive discounts.

As our product has evolved, DNA has become central to executing on this vision, and we’ve already tested the “club” concept. In October 2022, for example, we whitelisted DNA holders for Lens Protocol, allowing them to join the social network in its earliest days.

This created a bit of a dilemma for us. With Genesis and DNA, we had two assets that could bring users benefits. To make things simple, we decided to consolidate all perks, opportunities, discounts and more under Zerion DNA.

In the first phase of this process, Genesis holders will need to merge their fee waiver benefit with their DNA NFT. Doing this will immediately upgrade their Zerion DNA.

This is just the beginning.

Over the coming months, we’ll be increasingly adding benefits to make this new membership tier even more attractive. Merging your Genesis benefits with DNA is the first step for our earliest fans.

The (Other) Merge

To ensure transparency and openness, we want to share a few details about how merging your Genesis benefits with DNA will work.

The first thing you need to understand is that after 11:59 pm UTC on May 18th 2023 any Genesis NFTs transferred, bought, or sold on a secondary market like Blur or Opensea will not be eligible to merge benefits.

This step will help us prevent fraud, ensure merge happens out in the open and all users get the same chance to participate.

You’ll also need at least one Zerion DNA NFT to complete the merge process. You’ll be prompted in our app to mint one inside our app in the coming weeks, but you can create a Zerion wallet and mint yours at any time!

Your next step depends on the rarity of your Genesis NFT you have. You’ll be able to follow the steps inside the Zerion app. New users who did not have a chance to claim or buy a Genesis NFT will be able to buy Zerion Premium DNA NFTs on the secondary market.

Here’s what to expect from the merge process for each Genesis Rarity Type👇

Merging Genesis with DNA

Legendary & Rare Genesis Holders

You’ll still enjoy your zero Zerion fees for life 🎉

We’re also not “burning” the NFT in this process, so you’ll be able to keep your beloved Genesis in your collection. Only the benefits are moving from one NFT to another.

Once the merge is complete in the app, your new supercharged DNA NFT will look a little different 😎

Legendary NFTs will feature a striking bluish shine with diamonds sparkling inside your avatar’s body, while Rares will have a golden shine.

Common Genesis Holders

When we launched fees in March 2022, we communicated that Common Genesis holders wouldn’t pay additional fees on Zerion for one year.

With this in mind, Common holders will still be able to enjoy swaps on Zerion with no fees apart from gas and DEX charges until 11:59 pm June 30th 2023 if you merge your Genesis benefits with DNA. This effectively will be a trial of Zerion Premium.

After this date, you’ll need to sign up for a Zerion membership (more details will be announced later). Additionally, some Legendary and Rare Genesis holders will likely put their upgraded DNAs up for sale on Opensea or Blur.

Common Genesis holders will also see a change to their DNA NFTs after they merge their benefits. Their avatars will now have an orange-bronze look to them 🙂

What’s next

Over the next two months, we’ll closely watch how people move from Genesis to DNA and prepare for the main release of our membership program.

Based on engagement and feedback, we’ll plan and launch a fully-fledged premium membership program available to everyone. The price and other details will be announced later. The most important part is that Zerion DNA will become the core part of the Zerion Wallet experience.

In the meantime, if you don't have a Genesis NFT right now, don't worry! You'll be able to buy upgraded DNA NFTs on the secondary market.

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