Have you heard about the cryptocurrency Axie Infinity? This article will cover this innovative, play-to-earn blockchain video game that’s taking the industry by storm.
The crypto world is proving to be quite influential across a broad spectrum of fields not related to the financial industry. One of these realms is the gaming sphere, which in itself has grown immensely in value over the last decade.
Axie Infinity is the project boasting the largest market capitalization (about $4.4 billion presently, according to CoinMarketCap) across all gaming-related coins. As an overall ranking, Axie sits at the 35th position of most traded cryptocurrencies with more than 350 000 daily users.
Moreover, at least 40% of the traffic comes from the Philippines, while Venezuela and the United States are the other two large demographics. Within the last week of July, Axie rose close to 300% in price, eventually reaching an all-time high of $80.76 in mid-August 2021. Axie’s current value at the time of writing is about $72 a token.
It seems to be a common occurrence within cryptocurrencies where more established coins lose substantial value, and other lesser-known coins grab the headlines for their unexpected price jumps.
So, what precisely is the unique selling point about Axie, and how has it achieved such immense success? This article will explore more about the project, how it functions on a practical level, and why it’s valuable.
So, what is Axie Infinity?
AXS combines the technologies of blockchain and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in an ever-growing Pokemon-inspired cartoonish open world known as Lunacia. It is essentially a play-to-earn battling game where users collect, trade, raise, and battle unique creatures dubbed ‘axies’ on the Ethereum network.
Players also complete various quests and farm different resources. Such axies, along with land, flowers, barrels, lamps, etc., are tokenized into NFTs users buy or sell with one of Axie’s native coins, SLP (Smooth Love Potion).
An NFT is a unique cryptographic token for digitizing virtually anything of value on a particular blockchain, from art, collectibles, games, music, games, etc. In the case of Axie, holders create interesting creatures using six body parts (back, ear, eyes, horns, mouth, and tail).
Each axie is classified according to four different metrics: speed, skill, morale, and health. Furthermore, every axie is categorized as aquatic, beast, bird, reptile, bug, or plant.
Every axie will have distinct battling prowess and unique mechanics affecting its damage tolerance and attacking skills against other different axies. Furthermore, gamers use a valuing system consisting of (common, rare, ultra-rare, legendary) in deciding how valuable an axie is.
As teams win battles, they receive more ‘experience points’ necessary to amplify their axie stats and evolve their bodies. This exciting project came to light in 2018, created by Sky Mavis, a Vietnamese-based game developer.
Trug Nguyen and Aleksander Larsen, two entrepreneurs with immense experience in software engineering, blockchain, and gaming, co-founded the brand.
More about how Axie Infinity works
Once an axie has been created, players earn SLP tokens which are exchangeable for money or used to breed more axies. This method represents the first way gamers can make money. The second one is through the trading of NFTs also using the same SLP.
Another native token is AXS (Axie Infinity Shards), which deals with the governance of the entire ecosystem. AXS holders will soon have a say in developing the platform, the treasury funds, and other related things.
Axie is transitioning towards a fully decentralized system where its developer, Sky Mavis, won’t hold the most control. Furthermore, AXS holders will soon be able to stake their tokens for even more rewards.
Only 270 million AXS tokens will ever be in existence, with roughly 60.9 million currently circulating. On the other hand, there is no maximum supply for SLP.
There is a significant upfront investment for getting started on Axie. One needs to own three axies or axie NFTs to create their first team, each available for purchase on Axie’s official marketplace using the Ronin wallet.
Presently, one of these NFTs starts from around $300 apiece. Players can play on various operating systems, namely Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.
Why is Axie Infinite valuable?
It is amazing to know some axies have sold for staggering amounts. One of the most expensive Axie NFTs, a triple mystic named Angel, sold for about $120 000 in late 2020, while someone bought a piece of in-game land for roughly $1.5 million earlier this year.
Gaming-focused crypto coins like AXS are in demand due to the realization of tokenization within the gaming industry. More specifically, developers are beginning to take advantage of tokenizing exclusive in-game times through cryptocurrencies.
This structure minimizes unofficial dark markets where such items are sold, allowing game designers to keep as much of the profits as possible. Despite not being cheap to start in the game, many players consider their NFTs investments since they can later resell them at a potentially higher value.
Also, the play-to-earn element is a concept that never existed before but is undoubtedly a massive incentive for gamers.
Final word
Playing video games has always been about fun, but projects like Axie Infinity are proving this endeavor can have some notable investing and ownership capabilities.
For some, it has even become a way to make a living, with top players being reported to make around $400 daily playing the game alone, aside from selling NFTs. While many games in the past have had their own currencies, very few had currencies with convertibility to hard cash until the likes of Axie came along.
Moreover, the play-to-earn idea will see more gamers interested in Axie and see more projects looking to emulate its success. One of the criticisms of Axie is not being available to many exchanges for purchasing presently. Hopefully, this will change soon to allow more people to participate in the game and reap its rewards.
