Building on ZERϴ: Highlight.xyz

Most Layer 2 networks focus on growing the TVL and overlook NFTs. Yet no onchain experience would be complete without culture-defining artwork, PFPs, and onchain media. The first NFT platform to build on ZERϴ will be Highlight. In this post, we’ll explore what Highlight is and how it works. We will also look into what will be possible with Highlight on ZERϴ. ‍

What is Highlight? 

Launched in 2022, Highlight is an NFT platform for creating and collecting onchain art and culture. It is live on Ethereum, Polygon, and major L2s: Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, and Zora. 

For creators 

Tailored for creators, Highlight makes it very easy to launch an NFT project of any kind, from an open edition or a 1-of-1 auction to PFPs to generative art, and more. 

Thanks to Highlight’s rich features, you can define settings and deploy complex minting experiences without coding. Smart contracts are free to deploy and are self-owned (i.e. you deploy it to your own address and have full control over upgrading or re-using it in the future). Highlight charges a small fee for every mint.

For collectors 

On Highlight, collectors can buy new mints and trade NFTs on the secondary market. 

In addition to crypto, collectors can pay for new mints with credit cards, which potentially makes it easier for beginners to get their first NFTs. Highlight also supports cross-chain minting, making it easier for collectors to mint without needing to bridge cryptocurrency to the intended chain. 

On the secondary markets, collectors can buy listed items or place offers for individual items or collections. Along with NFTs created on Highlight, an increasing number of collections created elsewhere are listed in their marketplace.  

For developers 

Highlight’s smart contracts can also be used to create complex onchain experiences, from generative art to onchain games. 

Generative NFTs are created based on running the creator’s code at the time of minting. This makes them unique and fun but also more technical to create. With randomly generated projects, not even the creator knows how exactly an NFT will turn out. 

Because many creators using Highlight are technically advanced, Highlight Studio lets creators test and iterate their NFTs before the mint. By connecting their source code, creators can use different onchain data and sources of randomness to see how the NFTs will behave and look like. 

This can be used not only for art but for games, community building, and other experiments. 

What’s possible on ZERϴ for Highlight 

Highlight has committed to becoming the first NFT platform to start building on the ZERO network. 

The main difference from other Layer-2s is that on ZERϴ, all transactions are gasless, and in Zerion Wallet, they are sponsored by Zerion. This means that for Zerion users, gas fees are abstracted away, and transactions are free.

This can bring the experience of NFT minting closer to Web 2.0: click mint, and onchain media will show up in your wallet.  

Yet new experiences go far beyond minting with zero gas. 

• Fully onchain generative art — the entire artwork can be stored onchain and live in NFT smart contracts without incurring expensive gas costs; 
• More interactive art — every interaction with the artwork can be onchain and change the NFT, which opens the door for more interactive, dynamic, and co-created projects;
• Onchain as a new artistic medium — with zero fees artistic expression can go beyond the NFT image and include a much richer experience for collectors to engage with;

Zerion Wallet is also a great place to showcase NFTs. 

First, all NFTs are added automatically to the wallet and display all media, from simple images to videos and interactive iframes. Second, NFTs can be sorted, grouped in the collection, and searchable (including from transaction history). Finally, Zerion’s Explore section on mobile and the Perks tab in the browser extension are great ways of finding new interesting mints.

Additionally, many Zerion Wallet users find out about NFT mints from notifications: when their watched wallets mint something, they get an alert. This adds a social layer to onchain exploration.

By combining Highlight on ZERϴ and Zerion Wallet’s NFT features, artists can build rich onchain experiences beyond static JPEGs. 

“We’re excited to integrate with ZERϴ as a day 1 launch partner. The Zerion community is incredibly creative and we can’t wait to see what they create using our extensive suite of creator tools.” — Nat Emodi, co-founder & CEO, Highlight 

What’s next for ZERϴ and Highlight 

The ZERϴ mainnet launch is expected in autumn. 

While ZERϴ is in its testnet phase, Highlight is testing and deploying contracts. There will likely be no user-facing apps on the testnet. Stay tuned for updates. 

If you’re planning to create new experiences with Highlight on ZERϴ for the mainnet launch, let us know on Farcaster, and we’ll help you with anything.