Overview
GenomesDAO, built by Genomes.io (founded 2018, London), is a biotech DeSci DAO focused on the safe, private, and auditable monetization of genomic data. It combines AMD's SEV-ES encrypted virtualization, blockchain, and DeFi so individuals retain full ownership and control over their DNA data instead of surrendering it to a sequencing company or data broker.
The project raised a new investment round from Pantera Capital and Modular Capital in 2024 to expand its encrypted-vault infrastructure.
How it works
GenomesDAO works with clinical-grade providers to deliver 30x whole-genome sequencing that analyses 100% of the genome. User DNA is stored in fully encrypted "DNA Vaults" secured by AMD SEV-ES, so only the individual controls access. Pharmaceutical companies and research organizations query the data using GENOME tokens, with Genomes.io acting as broker — and critically, the user must approve each individual query of their vault: a query asks a single specific question and only the answer, not the raw genome, ever leaves the vault.
The GENOME token
GenomesDAO consolidated its earlier $GENE and $GNOME tokens into a single $GENOME super-token, launched on the Base network and also supported on Ethereum. GENE swaps 1:1 into GENOME and GNOME swaps 10:1, for a fixed total supply of 1 billion GENOME. GENOME is the deflationary utility token pharmaceutical and research buyers spend to query consenting users' vaults — a data-marketplace design where the token is the metering unit for access rather than a speculative governance chip. As with any traded token, live price and market cap move constantly; CoinGecko carries the current figures.
How Caper approaches this
GenomesDAO's model — a token that meters paid access to a member-owned asset, with each transaction individually consented — rhymes with how a caper treats value. Where a research or data collective wanted a shared treasury rather than a per-vault broker fee, revenue from data licences would flow into the caper's treasury, disbursements to contributors or infrastructure would run through governance-approved PAYOUT proposals, and members would keep a participation-weighted claim on the treasury they built. Caper doesn't provide the confidential-compute vault GenomesDAO's privacy model depends on — that is the harder, domain-specific piece — but it does provide the treasury, spending, and exit rails a data DAO would otherwise assemble from scratch.