On May 13, 2024, something quiet but huge happened in the GameFi world. If you held DeRace (DERC) tokens before 16:00 UTC that day, you didn’t lose your investment-you got upgraded. The old DeRace project, built on NFT horse racing and play-to-earn mechanics, quietly vanished. In its place, zkRace (ZERC) appeared, with the same value, a cleaner contract, and a new home on the Base blockchain. This wasn’t a scam. It wasn’t a pump-and-dump. It was a clean, planned token migration-and if you missed it, you missed your chance to get ZERC for free.
What Was DeRace Before the Swap?
Before zkRace, there was DeRace. It was a virtual horse racing metaverse where players owned NFT racehorses, bred them, built digital hippodromes, and raced them to earn DERC tokens. Think of it like a mix of CryptoKitties and a horse racing simulator, but with real money attached. You could buy horses, train them, enter races, and even rent out your hippodrome to other players. The whole thing ran on blockchain, so every horse, every race result, and every token earned was verifiable and permanent. DERC was the lifeblood of the ecosystem. You needed it to enter races, buy new horses, upgrade your track, or claim rewards from referrals. But the original blockchain setup had limits. Transaction fees were high, speeds were slow, and the smart contract wasn’t built for scale. That’s why the team decided to rebuild-not from scratch, but by swapping.The ZERC Token Swap: How It Actually Worked
The transition from DERC to ZERC wasn’t optional. It was automatic. If you held DERC tokens before the snapshot on May 13, 2024, at 16:00 UTC, you got ZERC tokens-1:1, no questions asked. No sign-up. No form-filling. No gas fees. The system just did it. Here’s how it unfolded:- On May 13, 2024, at 16:00 UTC, a blockchain snapshot was taken. This recorded every wallet holding DERC tokens.
- On May 28, 2024, at 10:00 UTC, KuCoin and Gate.io opened trading for ZERC/USDT pairs.
- On May 29, 2024, at 09:00 UTC, users could withdraw ZERC tokens from their exchange accounts.
- After that, DERC was completely delisted. No more deposits. No more trades. The old token became useless.
What’s the ZERC Token Like Today?
As of January 2026, ZERC is still trading. Here’s what it looks like:- Total supply: 120,000,000 ZERC (100% circulating)
- Current price: $0.0258 (as of January 2026)
- Market cap: ~$3.1 million
- Trading volume (24h): ~$122,795
- Blockchain: Base (Ethereum Layer 2)
- Contract address: 0xa3a2...f049815
How Is ZERC Used Today?
ZERC isn’t just a speculative token. It’s the engine of the zkRace metaverse. You still need it to:- Enter horse races
- Breed new NFT horses
- Build and upgrade your hippodrome
- Claim daily rewards
- Participate in referral programs
- Submit bug reports for rewards
Why Did They Switch to zkRace?
The name change wasn’t just branding. It was technical. The old DeRace contract was built on a slower, more expensive chain. The new zkRace contract runs on Base-a Layer 2 network built on Ethereum. That means:- Faster transactions (under 2 seconds)
- Lower gas fees (often under $0.01 per action)
- Better scalability for more users
- Stronger security through Ethereum’s base layer
Was the Airdrop Fair?
Yes. The swap was one of the fairest in crypto history. Unlike many projects that give 80% of tokens to investors and 5% to early users, zkRace gave 100% of ZERC tokens to DERC holders. No private sale. No venture capital dump. No team pre-mine. Every DERC holder got exactly what they owned, just on a new chain. And there was no time limit to claim. The swap was automatic. If you held DERC at the snapshot, you got ZERC. No rush. No panic. No FOMO. That’s rare. Most airdrops require you to claim within 48 hours-or you lose it. zkRace didn’t do that. It just worked.
Is It Too Late to Get ZERC?
Yes. The airdrop is over. The token swap happened in May 2024. If you didn’t hold DERC before May 13, 2024, you can’t get ZERC for free anymore. You can still buy it on exchanges like KuCoin, Gate.io, or Bitget. But you’ll pay market price-no free tokens. And since the supply is fixed and fully circulating, there won’t be another airdrop unless the team creates new tokens-which they haven’t said they will. The only way to get ZERC now is to earn it by playing. Win races. Breed horses. Refer friends. Report bugs. Those are the real airdrops now.What’s Next for zkRace?
The roadmap is quiet. No big announcements. No whitepaper updates. No new features teased. That’s not necessarily bad. Some projects blow up with hype and vanish. Others just keep building. The zkRace team seems focused on stability. They’ve kept the platform running. Deposits still work. Trading still works. The game still loads. That’s more than you can say for half the GameFi projects from 2022. If you’re still playing, you’re part of a small, loyal group. There’s no big community on Twitter. No influencers pushing it. Just people who like racing virtual horses and earning a little crypto doing it.Final Thoughts
The zkRace airdrop wasn’t flashy. It didn’t make headlines. But it was done right. No tricks. No hidden fees. No rug pulls. Just a clean upgrade from one token to another, with full value preserved. If you held DERC and got ZERC, you got lucky. If you didn’t, you missed one of the rare crypto events where fairness mattered more than hype. ZERC isn’t going to make you rich. But if you like the game, it’s still playable. And in a world full of broken crypto projects, that’s worth something.Was the ZERC airdrop free?
Yes, but only if you held DeRace (DERC) tokens before the snapshot on May 13, 2024, at 16:00 UTC. The swap was automatic-1 DERC = 1 ZERC. No action was needed for exchange holders. Wallet holders had to claim manually, but the tokens were given without cost.
Can I still get ZERC tokens for free today?
No. The only free ZERC tokens were distributed during the DERC to ZERC token swap in May 2024. There have been no additional airdrops since then. You can only acquire ZERC now by buying it on exchanges or earning it through gameplay, like winning races or referring players.
What happened to the old DERC tokens?
DERC tokens were permanently discontinued after the swap. Exchanges like KuCoin and Gate.io stopped supporting DERC deposits and trading after May 29, 2024. Any DERC still held after that date became worthless. The entire ecosystem moved to ZERC on the Base blockchain.
Is zkRace still active in 2026?
Yes. The zkRace metaverse is still operational. Players can still breed NFT horses, race them, build hippodromes, and earn ZERC tokens. Trading is active on exchanges like KuCoin and Gate.io, and deposits/withdrawals work normally. The team has not announced any shutdowns or major changes.
Why did zkRace switch to the Base blockchain?
The switch to Base improved transaction speed and lowered fees. Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 network, which means it’s faster and cheaper than the original chain DeRace used. It also offers better security through Ethereum’s settlement layer. The "zk" in zkRace refers to zero-knowledge proofs, a privacy-enhancing tech that helps verify game actions without exposing sensitive data.
Is ZERC a good investment?
It depends on your goals. ZERC isn’t a speculative asset with high growth potential-it’s a utility token for a niche GameFi game. Its market cap is small ($3.1M), and trading volume is low. If you enjoy playing the game and want to earn while you play, ZERC has value. If you’re looking to flip it for big gains, it’s not the right asset. There’s no team dump, no inflation, and no hype-just steady, quiet usage.
Pamela Mainama
This is one of the few crypto moves that actually felt honest. No tricks, no hidden agendas. Just a clean upgrade for people who stuck with it. Rare to see that kind of integrity.