Genesis Protocol
A system of personalized, on-demand creations reserved for VIRTC holders. Any eligible holder can commission a unique evolution of their sphere, or an entirely new creation, straight from the creator. Access is governed by staking, and staking more spheres lowers the price of every request.
Three moves, start to finish
Stake your spheres
Staking is off-chain and non-custodial: your sphere never leaves your wallet, ownership is simply verified against Ethereum mainnet. Staking is the sole condition of access — and every sphere staked beyond the first lowers the price of all your requests.
Submit your request
Five options, from a static background to a fully custom new sphere. Prices are indexed to the OpenSea floor at the time of the request. One total price — the creator share and the treasury share are both inside it, nothing is added on top.
Receive the work
The queue is first come, first served. A transformation updates the metadata of your existing sphere through ERC-4906 — no new mint, no burn. A new sphere is sent straight to your wallet, yours to keep or to trade.
Staking is the door
Staking is off-chain, verified in real time against Ethereum mainnet. It is the sole condition of access to the Genesis Protocol, and staking more spheres lowers the price of every request.
Waiting period between requests
There is no limit on the number of requests a holder can make. A single waiting period of 30 days between two requests applies to everyone equally, whatever the number of spheres staked. Larger stakers are rewarded through price — never through frequency or queue position.
Price discount
Every sphere staked beyond the first reduces the price of all your Genesis requests: −3% per additional staked sphere, capped at −21%.
| SPHERES STAKED | DISCOUNT |
|---|---|
| 1 | no discount |
| 2 | −3% |
| 3 | −6% |
| 4 | −9% |
| 5 | −12% |
| 6 | −15% |
| 7 | −18% |
| 8+ | −21% (maximum) |
How the discount applies
The discount is applied to the total price. The 63 / 37 split is then calculated on the discounted amount — the ratio never changes, only the base does. Creator and treasury absorb the discount proportionally; neither is penalised more than the other.
Example — 1 sphere staked
Custom sphere: pays 300% of floor → creator 189%, treasury 111%.
Example — 8 spheres staked
Custom sphere: pays 237% of floor → creator 149.3%, treasury 87.7%.
Listing a staked sphere
Consequences of listing
- Your staking counter resets to zero
- You lose your accumulated seniority, and with it your treasury vote eligibility
- Your discount is recalculated on your remaining staked spheres
What staking provides
- Access to Genesis requests — without staking, no access is possible
- A price discount on every request
- Treasury vote eligibility after 37 days of continuous staking
- One active request per wallet at a time
One total price, split 63 / 37
The holder pays one total price. The 63% creator share and the 37% treasury share are both included in it — nothing is added on top. Prices are indexed to the OpenSea floor at the time of the request, checked manually by the creator, and locked at request time rather than at delivery. An oracle solution is planned and under consideration.
| OPTION | TOTAL PRICE | CREATOR | TREASURY | SLOTS | DELIVERY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Static background | 30% | 18.9% | 11.1% | 1 | 7 days max |
| Animated background | 60% | 37.8% | 22.2% | 2 | 10 days max |
| Sphere transformation | 100% | 63% | 37% | 4 | 14 days max |
| New random sphere + custom background | 200% | 126% | 74% | 4 | 14 days max |
| New custom sphere + custom background | 300% | 189% | 111% | 10 | 21 days max |
All percentages are expressed as a share of the OpenSea floor price at the time of the request.
What a transformation actually does
- Frame 1 — the base shape — remains identical
- You choose a new palette from those not yet used on your base
- All 37 frames reworked by hand, with an evolved animation
- Metadata updated via ERC-4906 — no new mint, no burn
- Metadata gains a Palette field and an Evolution counter: 1, 2…
Why new spheres cost above floor
The two sphere-creation options are priced at 200% and 300% of floor on purpose. It is the most demanding commission on the list, and pricing it above market closes the arbitrage: a holder cannot commission a new sphere below market value and flip it instantly for profit.
First come, first served
Submission order alone determines position. Seniority and sphere count give no queue advantage — larger stakers are rewarded through price discounts, not through priority. This guarantees that every holder, new or long-standing, is eventually served.
- Queue sorted by submission date only
- One active request per wallet at a time
- The creator retains the right to suspend or reject any individual request
Weekly slot budget — 37 slots
Each option consumes a number of slots proportional to the production time it actually requires. One slot is roughly 30 minutes of hand-animation work, so a weekly budget of 37 slots corresponds to about 18 hours of production per week.
| OPTION | SLOTS | APPROX. TIME |
|---|---|---|
| Static background | 1 | ~30 min |
| Animated background | 2 | ~1 h |
| Sphere transformation | 4 | ~2 h |
| New random sphere + custom background | 4 | ~2 h |
| New custom sphere + custom background | 10 | ~5 h |
A full week could be 3 custom spheres, or 9 transformations, or 18 animated backgrounds, or any combination totalling 37 slots. The budget is adjustable by the creator from the admin panel, depending on availability.
Fast Track
Any holder with an active request in the queue may pay a Fast Track supplement to move immediately to the front. The supplement goes entirely to the community treasury — not to the creator — and the one-per-cycle limit prevents wealthy wallets from permanently bypassing the queue.
| Supplement | 50% of the total request price |
| Destination | 100% to the community treasury |
| Limit | 1 per wallet per 37-day cycle |
| Effect | Immediate promotion to head of queue |
The fine print, in advance
Floor drop protection
If the floor drops more than 20% between the request and the delivery, the creator's 63% share is unaffected — the treasury's 37% share is refunded to the holder instead.
Anti-manipulation
- Listing a staked sphere resets the staking counter to zero
- New spheres priced above floor (200% / 300%) — no arbitrage possible
- Full payment required before any work begins
Selling after a request
If a holder sells one of their spheres after submitting a request, the work is still delivered. Payment was made, so the commission is honoured.
- New spheres are minted to the requester's wallet — a resale changes nothing
- Transformations and backgrounds update a specific token URI — if that sphere was sold, the requester may reassign the work to another sphere they still hold
No additional penalty applies. Selling already reduces the number of staked spheres, which automatically lowers the discount and may cost treasury vote eligibility. The consequence is proportional to what was sold.
Price lock & floor movements
- General principle: the price is locked at the moment of payment. A rising market does not affect an order already placed.
- Major exception: if the floor drops by more than 20% before delivery, Floor Drop Protection applies and the holder is refunded the 37% treasury share. The creator’s 63% share stays locked and guaranteed whatever happens.
General rules
- Floor price checked manually on OpenSea at request time — an oracle solution is planned and under consideration
- Price locked at request time — not at delivery time
- One active request per wallet at a time
- The creator retains final approval on every request
Where every request goes
Secondary market royalties and Fast Track supplements flow 100% into the community treasury. Every 37 days, all revenue that entered the treasury during the cycle is split between the untouchable reserve and the pool put to the vote.
Vote options — the 70% pool
Eligible stakers — 37 days of continuous staking minimum — vote on the allocation. One wallet, one vote, whatever the number of spheres held.
| Loyalty Echoes | The reward for stakers' loyalty, in the form of surprises |
| The Genesis Loop | Repurchase VIRTC on the secondary market |
| The Catalyst Fund | Budget allocated to project visibility |
| Loop | Carry the funds over to the next cycle |
The 30% fixed reserve can never be touched by the community vote. It is the safety net for floor support via buyback when it is needed.
Two sites, two jobs
Showcase site — virtuouscircle.xyz
- Collection presentation and the four pillars
- Sphere viewer — browse the collection and its holders
- Public roadmap
- No wallet connection — a pure informational showcase
Genesis platform — dedicated
- Web3 wallet connection (RainbowKit)
- My NFT — owned spheres and their evolution history
- Staking — manage staked spheres and view your current discount
- Request queue — submit, track your position, use Fast Track
- Community vote — open to 37-day+ stakers
- Admin panel — adjust the weekly slot budget
Tech stack
| Cloudflare Workers + KV | Off-chain staking and request queue |
| Alchemy / Infura | RPC for on-chain ownership verification |
| OpenSea API | Listing detection for staked spheres |
| ERC-4906 | Metadata update notification for transformations |