NFTs are more than just JPEGs.
Some nonfungible tokens have utility far beyond aesthetics. Holding such NFTs grants the wallet owner certain rights. And this includes Zerion Genesis Collection.
In this post, we’ll explain what Zerion Genesis Collection NFTs are, how they were created, and what utility you can get from holding Zerion NFTs.
What is Zerion?
First, if you’re not familiar, Zerion is your mission control for Web3.
With Zerion you can track your whole DeFi and NFT portfolio, trade and bridge across nine Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, and more.
The first step to using Zerion is to connect your noncustodial wallet, for example, MetaMask. After that, Zerion displays everything you hold in your wallet, including tokens staked across over 500 DeFi protocols. You can review your trading history, your entry and exit points, automatically calculate your profits.
And this is not limited to just your crypto wallet: you can check any address and see what it holds. You can even subscribe to follow the wallets of funds and whales and get notifications when they trade.
In summer 2021, Zerion expanded beyond DeFi and added a new NFT tab.
In just a few clicks, you can see all your NFTs, track floor and latest prices. By looking at other wallets you can also explore interesting NFT collections and get alerts when these wallets mint new tokens.
Zerion Genesis NFT launch
Zerion celebrated the release of new NFT features by launching its first NFT drop, the Zerion Genesis Collection.
Over a period of five days, anybody was able to mint Zerion NFTs. In the spirit of Web3, minting was free and open to anyone.
Each NFT got a randomly assigned rarity with these probabilities:
- Legendary — 0.1%
- Rare — 15.3%
- Common — 84.6%
Besides the rarity score, each card has another attribute: generation. It’s zero for all NFTs from the Zerion Genesis Collection.
Between July 26 and July 31, over 50,000 Zerion NFTs were minted.
Each NFT features an image generated by Nikolay Ironov, an AI artist by award-winning design studio Art. Lebedev.
This algorithmically generated artwork is the representation of the Zerion logo, viewed through multiple lenses. It’s similar to how different people have unique perspectives on the same product and the broader Web3 space. Some focus on DeFi, others are obsessed with NFTs, while many experiment with DAOs and other new frontiers. The lines between finance, creativity, and identity are getting blurred as we all collaboratively build Web3.
And to creatively express this vision, Zerion worked with a fascinating “artist”, Nikolay Ironov.
Who is Nikolay Ironov?
Nikolay Ironov is not actually a human — it’s an advanced AI developed by Art. Lebedev.
This AI was introduced to clients as a designer working remotely. Named Nikolay Ironov, the AI has its own profile and a design portfolio. This ensured that AI’s output would be judged without any prejudice against generative design. Only a select few Art Lebedev employees knew the truth.
For a whole year, Nikolay Ironov worked on real client projects, designing logos and corporate brands. The AI’s work won client accolades, received attention from the media and in professional design communities.
In 2020, Art Lebedev finally told everyone that Nikolay Ironov is an AI, generating coverage in The Next Web, Fast Company, and other high-profile publications.
Today, Nikolay Ironov is one of the most advanced commercial AI applications that work on real-life creative projects.
The Zerion Genesis Collection
For Zerion Genesis Collection, Nikolay Ironov algorithmically generated a set of unique images for NFT cards.
Every card has a unique background and a version of the Zerion logo built from various geometric shapes. The images are metaphoric representations of ways in which different aspects of Web3 interconnect with each other.
Yet Zerion NFTs are more than just pretty pictures.
Benefits of Zerion NFTs: zero-fee trading
From the very beginning, Zerion NFTs were meant to reward the community.
While the NFTs were free to mint, today they have valuable utility: wallets that hold them are exempt from Zerion’s fees for swaps.
Zerion charges a 0.5% fee on swaps done through its trading aggregation: Zerion scans major DEXes and DEX aggregators, finding the best swap rates, taking into account gas costs and slippage.
Wallets that hold Zerion NFTs get 100% discounts on Zerion’s fees:
- Legendary and Rare Zerion Genesis NFTs get zero fees forever,
- Common Zerion Genesis NFTs get zero fees until March 26, 2023, or for 12 months since the introduction of the fees.
If you hold a Zerion Genesis NFT in your wallet, you’ll see the little star (as on the screenshot below). This means you won’t get charged fees for trading with Zerion.
The revenue generated from the trading fees will go to a special “treasury-like” multisig contract, laying the foundation for Zerion’s decentralized future.
In a multisig, several people must sign a transaction to move the funds. Here are the addresses for these multisigs:
- Avalanche and Optimism: 0x7d20Ab6D8aF50d87A5E8DeF46e48F4d7dC2Ea5c7
- All other networks: 0x4a183b7ED67B9E14b3f45Abfb2Cf44ed22c29E54
This structure ensures that fees will remain safe until the Zerion team will come up with a way to involve the community in decision-making.
Where to buy Zerion NFTs
Although all Zerion Genesis NFTs have been minted, you can buy these NFTs on the secondary markets:
While the Zerion Genesis Collection was Zerion’s first NFT drop, it’s probably not the last.
The best way to qualify for any future mints and NFT drops is to try and use Zerion: connect your crypto wallet, check your portfolio, make a few trades, try bridging to L1s and L2s.
