Mute (MUTE)

Data Delay

Overview

Mute (MUTE) was the original token of a decentralized finance platform built on ZKsync Era, a network that helps Ethereum handle transactions more efficiently. The platform brought several common DeFi activities together: swapping tokens, supplying assets to trading pools, earning farming rewards, and taking part in community decisions. Its exchange was known as Mute Switch. (github.com)

In March 2024, the project rebranded as Koi Finance and introduced a new token, KOI. The announced conversion was 1 MUTE for 12.5 KOI, with a migration deadline of June 1, 2024. That change is central to understanding MUTE today. The older token remains part of the project’s history, while KOI carries the token roles described in Koi’s newer materials. (muteio.medium.com)

History & Team

From a blockchain to a DeFi platform

Mute’s roots go back to a project called NIX. The project’s account of its history says it began as a mineable blockchain and later moved to an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. In January 2021, the team described a one-for-one swap from NIX into MUTE. It then focused on building DeFi tools for ZKsync rather than running its earlier chain. (docs.koi.finance)

Mute Switch reached mainnet in May 2023, according to the project roadmap. The platform developed trading pools, farming incentives, a bond system, and governance tools. The March 2024 Koi rebrand brought an updated token plan and a new name for the continuing ecosystem. In May 2024, Koi reported that it had distributed KOI to holders whose legacy MUTE governance locks extended beyond the migration date. (docs.koi.finance)

Project publications identify the work through the Mute.io and Koi Finance teams rather than naming a single founder of MUTE. The original token plan described no initial coin offering, pre-seed round, or early investment allocation. It also stated that venture investors holding MUTE had bought it on the open market. Koi’s later allocation set aside portions of KOI for investors and advisers, reflecting a different economic plan after the rebrand. (docs.koi.finance)

Technology & How It Works

Trading on ZKsync Era

Mute Switch was built on ZKsync Era, an Ethereum layer-two network. A layer-two network handles much of the work away from Ethereum’s main chain. ZKsync groups transactions into batches and produces cryptographic proofs that Ethereum can check. Sharing the work of processing a batch helps reduce the cost of individual transactions. Mute’s exchange used that network; the rollup technology belonged to ZKsync. (docs.zksync.io)

The exchange used an automated market maker, or AMM. Instead of matching each buyer with an individual seller, an AMM lets people trade against pools of tokens supplied by other users. A person who deposits a pair of assets becomes a liquidity provider and receives a share representing that deposit. Trading fees can then be assigned to providers according to the pool’s rules. (docs.koi.finance)

Mute Switch supported different pool designs. Stable pools were meant for assets that usually trade close to one another in value, while normal pools served pairs whose values can move more independently. Koi’s documentation also describes concentrated pools, where providers choose the price range in which their assets will be used. These designs give the exchange ways to serve different kinds of token pairs. (docs.koi.finance)

The “zero-knowledge” part of ZKsync refers to how transaction results are proven correct. It does not, by itself, describe a private messaging or hidden-payment feature of Mute Switch. The documented exchange functions center on swaps, liquidity pools, farming, bonds, and governance. (docs.zksync.io)

Tokenomics & Utility

The original MUTE supply

The project set MUTE’s maximum supply at 40 million tokens. Its original distribution came from the earlier blockchain and the move to Ethereum. Project documentation says about 10% of the old chain’s block rewards went to a development treasury. It also records the later merger of a related token, VOICE, into MUTE’s supply. These details explain the older token’s distribution; they are separate from the token plan introduced for KOI. (docs.koi.finance)

MUTE had uses within the earlier DeFi design. A holder could lock tokens to receive dMUTE, a voting token tied to governance. The documented contract set lock periods from seven to 365 days. Its farming design also used dMUTE holdings when calculating some liquidity-provider rewards. In the bond system, users could exchange eligible liquidity-pool shares for MUTE delivered under a time lock. (github.com)

The move to KOI

Koi announced a maximum supply of one billion KOI. Half of that supply was assigned to the conversion of the original 40 million MUTE at the stated 1-to-12.5 ratio. The remaining announced allocations were 30% for ecosystem incentives, 7% reserved for future investors, 6% for the DAO, 4% reserved for future advisers, and 3% for investors and advisers with vesting periods. (muteio.medium.com)

Koi’s governance model uses locked KOI for voting power called veKOI. Koi has also described farming boosts and distributions linked to that model. For readers comparing the two symbols, the key distinction is their place in the project’s timeline: MUTE explains the platform’s original token economy, while KOI belongs to the rebranded system. (docs.koi.finance)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

The clearest use case for Mute’s technology was token exchange. A user could connect a compatible wallet, choose a token pair, and make a swap through Mute Switch’s pools. Other users could supply those pools with assets. In this way, traders gained a place to exchange tokens, while liquidity providers made assets available for those trades. The exchange and pool model continued under Koi Finance. (docs.koi.finance)

Farming added another reason to provide liquidity. The earlier Mute amplifier linked some rewards to a user’s dMUTE holdings. Koi’s later farming materials describe rewards funded through platform activity and boosted by veKOI voting power for selected pools. Rewards therefore connect token holders, liquidity providers, and the exchange’s activity within one system. (github.com)

Bonds serve a different purpose. Under Koi’s documented model, a user transfers eligible KOI–ETH liquidity-pool shares to the DAO and receives a quoted amount of KOI over a vesting period. The arrangement helps the DAO build liquidity that it controls directly. Governance provides another way to participate: the Koi DAO uses a proposal contract and a time delay before approved decisions can be carried out. (docs.koi.finance)

Advantages & Challenges

Mute combined several DeFi functions in one ZKsync-based platform. Users could move among swaps, pools, farming, and bonds without leaving that network. The use of ZKsync gave the exchange access to Ethereum-linked rollup infrastructure, while separate pool types let it handle both closely priced assets and pairs with wider price movements. Public contract materials also describe how the original locking, farming, and bond features were designed to work. (docs.koi.finance)

Its main challenge as a subject for readers is the two-token history. An older MUTE balance and a KOI balance refer to different contracts and different stages of the project. Governance terms also changed from dMUTE to veKOI. Beyond that history, the system asks users to understand several moving parts: a pool share represents deposited assets, a farming position follows reward rules, and a bond exchanges one kind of holding for another over time. Each feature has a distinct role. (muteio.medium.com)

Where to Buy & Wallets

MUTE is available through a MUTE/WETH pool on Koi Finance. The project also documented an Ethereum MUTE/ETH route on Uniswap V2. The MUTE-to-KOI migration deadline was June 1, 2024, so buying the older token is a separate action from taking part in the completed migration. (coingecko.com)

MetaMask can display compatible tokens on Ethereum and ZKsync Era. ZKsync provides instructions for adding its network to the wallet, and MetaMask supports importing a token by contract address. MUTE and KOI have different contract addresses on each supported network. Selecting the matching network and address allows a wallet to display the intended token balance. (docs.zksync.io)

Regulatory & Compliance

Crypto-asset rules generally depend on the activity, the service provider, and the jurisdiction, rather than a token’s name alone. In the United States, securities law can apply to a crypto-asset transaction when its facts meet the investment-contract test described by the Securities and Exchange Commission. For federal tax purposes, the Internal Revenue Service treats digital assets as property and requires applicable sales and exchanges to be reported. In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework sets conditions for public offerings, admission to trading, and crypto-asset services. These broad rules provide the legal setting for activity involving tokens such as MUTE and KOI. (sec.gov)

Mute’s Shariah compliance status remains undetermined in the project materials. Islamic finance principles examine a transaction’s terms and purpose, including whether it involves interest (riba), excessive uncertainty (gharar), or gambling (maysir). An assessment of Mute-related activity would therefore need to consider the particular token use, farming arrangement, or bond terms involved. The project describes its bonds as exchanges of liquidity-pool shares for tokens that vest over time. (ifsb.org)

Future Outlook

Mute’s lasting role is closely tied to Koi Finance. The rebrand moved the ecosystem’s token design to KOI, while the exchange, pools, farming system, and DAO continued under the Koi name. In a July 2026 update, the team described Koi as its ZKsync platform for swaps, pools, farming, and governance. That gives readers a clearer way to follow the project’s continuing work than treating the original MUTE design as its current plan. (muteio.medium.com)

The platform’s development rests on practical DeFi questions: how well its pools serve different assets, whether providers choose to supply them, and how its DAO directs incentives and treasury resources. MUTE remains relevant because it shows where that design began and how the project changed its token economy as it developed. (docs.koi.finance)

Summary

Mute began as a token with roots in the NIX blockchain and became part of a ZKsync-based DeFi platform. Its original uses included governance locks, farming incentives, and bonds alongside Mute Switch’s trading pools. The 2024 rebrand moved the continuing ecosystem to Koi Finance and KOI. Understanding MUTE means understanding both the original platform and that transition: it is the token that helped establish a project whose DeFi tools continued under a new name. (docs.koi.finance)