Axie Infinity is a game about digital creatures called Axies, which have drawn parallels to Pokémon. The pet-based digital game merges blockchain, NFTs, and ERC-20 tokens with role-playing games (RPG). This guide looks at what the Axie Infinity is all about and whether it is worth playing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
► Axie Infinity merges gaming with blockchain by allowing players to collect, breed, and battle tokenized creatures called Axies.
► The game has a play-to-earn model where players can earn rewards in the form of $AXS and $SLP tokens, which can be traded or staked.
► Axie Infinity uses NFTs and crypto to create a ecosystem where players have governance rights and can participate in platform decisions.
► The game’s long-term success is supported by a roadmap and an active community, making it one of the most popular projects in crypto.
What is Axie Infinity?
Remember the Pokémon game? Axie Infinity is quite similar to that. It is a video game with customizable fantasy creatures that you can train to battle. However, unlike Pokémon, it runs on a blockchain. Axies, the one-of-a-kind tokenized fantasy creatures on Axie Infinity, are bred, raised, and traded for profit.
Founded by the Vietnam-based startup Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity is one of the most popular Ethereum-based NFT projects, with about 280,000 active users per month.
If you are an ardent gamer who consistently contributes to the platform by stirring engagement, you can earn rewards in Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) and Smooth Love Potion (SLP) tokens. If you are not into the game, you can still buy the tokens from cryptocurrency exchanges for investment or trading purposes.
Although many blockchain-based pay-to-earn games have emerged over the years, Axie Infinity presents a novel concept.
Each Axie, the cute little pet with more than 500 customizable body parts, is unique enough to give you players hours of fun. You can create an endless number of combinations to conquer your enemies and tweak your strategies till the game wears you out.
Development history
Cryptokitties brought Ethereum to a standstill during a massive bullish trend in the last leg of 2017 and revealed the unsustainability of crypto games. They failed to apply economic incentives for long-term growth.
However, Trung Thanh Nguyen, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, and Jeffrey Zirlin knew they could leverage the spike in interest in non-fungible tokens while addressing the existing limitations of the ecosystem. That was how Axie Infinity was born.
The team founded Sky Mavis in 2019 and raised tens of millions of dollars from various funding rounds and token sales for the development of the project.
Highlights of Axie Infinity
- Battle: You can train your Axies to battle against each other for rewards.
- Breeding: Axies are bred to create new offspring with unique capabilities and weaknesses based on the gene combinations.
- Land: Like humans, the Axis have land and homes, too. However, they are in the virtual universe. You can purchase lands for your Axies and refurbish them over time using the resources available on the platform.
- Marketplace: Axie Infinity hosts a decentralized marketplace where the NFTs can be traded with other users.
In May 2021, Sky Mavis raised $7.5 million for the platform with support from investors like Mark Cuban. Data shows that Axie Infinity was the highest-earning protocol compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum in July 2021.
Axie Infinity brings gaming to the crypto realm with a mission to drive the mass adoption of blockchain technology through leisure and entertainment.
What is $AXS?
$AXS is the ERC-20 governance token on Axie Infinity. It has a total token supply of 270,000,000 and is distributed as follows.
- 49% for in-game rewards by either playing or staking AXS
- 8% for community growth and development
- 21% for Sky Mavis and the team
- 7% for advisors
- 15% for the AXS private and public sales, which took place at the end of 2020.
$AXS price history and prediction
The initial token supply of $AXS was 59,985,000 (22.22%). During the debut, it was sold on Binance Launchpad for $0.10 USD. Although it has dropped since its 2021 bull run, the price been mostly stable ever since.
As the platform acquires more players and takes advantage of the staking program, users can support the growth of the platform and influence its development.
Check out what the experts have to say about the token’s long term prospects in our BeInCrypto Axie Infinity price prediction.
Use cases and applications of $AXS tokens
AXS has a few uses that are relevant to the ecosystem. Here is how holders are using the AXS token.
1. Governance
The primary utility of $AXS tokens is governance. Unlike traditional games where the governance of the platforms is entirely upon the developers, on Axie Infinity, gamers and token holders govern the platform.
It also has a program called “The Community Treasury: that accrues value from the Axie community and distributes it back to $AXS stakers. This way, the Treasury will act as a binding force that brings sustainability to the platform in the long run. Once the network is decentralized, $AXS stakers will govern the treasury.
2. Payments
$AXS enables users to facilitate payments for in-game purchases. Axie NFT marketplace accepts it as currency. Interestingly, it will also get you into certain sales/auctions conducted by the team. The number of tokens held will determine your eligibility for these events.
3. Staking
Players can stake $AXS on the Axie Infinity protocol to reap weekly rewards and participate in governance voting. Staking will incentivize users to hold the tokens and support the growth of the gaming ecosystem.
$AXS is distributed as a reward on Axie Infinity for playing, staking, and participating in voting. The number of tokens rewarded depends on your expertise in the game and your involvement in community events. However, the distributed rewards are locked for one year.
How to earn on Axie Infinity
As previously mentioned, Axie Infinity is a P2E game, which means that you can have fun and earn at the same time. Here is a brief tutorial on how you can earn money in the game.
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Play the game | Requires you to make an initial investment and trade a significant amount of time for profit. |
| Breed Axies | It may require a significant initial investment depending on the market but requires less effort. |
| Liquidity provider | The most profitable method for passive income but has significant competition. |
| Staking | Rewards are proportional to amount of capital you invest. |
| Hold Axies | Highly speculative but can be profitable depending on the market. |
Get into the game
There are plenty of ways you can earn money on Axie Infinity. The most obvious one is, of course, playing. However, it is not easy to start as a gamer, as it requires you to hold at least three Axies for your debut.
This could cost you a lump sum, depending on the market. But, once you get in, you can start earning $AXS and $SLP tokens by training your Axies to wage wars against opponents. You can also breed them to create more Axies with new powers and characteristics.
If you don’t have the initial capital to buy Axies, you can enter the gaming arena through agreements called scholarships. This is a program where people who don’t have the time or skill to play the game assign the task to expert gamers called scholars. Basically, it is like a business partnership.
While players invest their time in the game, owners invest the initial capital. Whatever rewards they generate from the game are split according to an agreed ratio.
Breed Axies
One of the best ways to generate a hefty profit from Axie Infinity is by breeding Axies. Any two Axies can be bred at the cost of 4 $AXS along with some $SLP tokens. The number of $SLP tokens required is determined by the number of combinations used for breeding.
In just five days’ time, the Axie will hatch and attain maturity. You can either use it on the platform to step up your game, put it up for sale on an NFT Marketplace, or lend it to Axie scholars, depending on the market conditions.
Become a liquidity provider
The Axie Infinity economy has two different tokens that are key to its growth and sustainability: $SLP, which functions as a utility token on the platform, and $AXS, the governance token. As the game’s user base increases, so does the value of these tokens.
If you are not into playing but still want to leverage the growth of the platform, you can become a liquidity provider of $AXS and $SLP tokens. Many popular decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and Sushiswap host $AXS and $SLP pools. They earn you trading fees and incentives.
Stake $AXS tokens
$AXS staking went live in the third quarter of 2021. Axie Infinity generated an incredible amount of money thereafter, which was ultimately redistributed back to users through the Axie Infinity Community Treasury and the staking program. Staking AXS presents another opportunity for users to earn without actually playing the game.
Hold Axies
If you think Axie Infinity is here to stay like the legendary Pokémon series or Minecraft, you can speculate on the rare Axies. Buy it when you think it is underpriced and hold it till the token reaches its optimum price.
In case you can’t afford to hold rare Axies, you can go for a fractionalized one. These are non-fungible tokens that have been sharded into fungible ERC-20 tokens for collective ownership.
Axie Infinity offers a wide array of options for earning profits. You can choose a strategy that best fits you based on how much time and money you can afford to invest.
Keep a close watch on the market while choosing your strategies. You can also mix them up to mitigate the risks. Therefore, it is best to set aside only a small portion of your portfolio for the game, given the volatile nature of the crypto market.
What to consider if you want to buy AXS tokens
Before buying a token, there are a lot of factors to consider. Let’s take a look at what they are and whether $AXS meets the criteria.
- Revenue: Profit is a big part of why people may choose to invest, even with games. You should calculate the profit you are able to make with Axie Infinity before deciding to invest.
- Community: A staunch community is the backbone of a crypto venture. Regardless of how technically competent a project is, it can’t flourish without the support of people. Axie Infinity has a thriving community of gamers and investors who contribute to its growth and keep it relevant.
- Competence: Axie Infinity is a project that is consistently growing and evolving. If you are speculating, you have to be realistic about how high the value can go. People tend to buy a coin when its price soars, but it may be far up the intrinsic value. When the market saturates, people start selling, and the price crashes down. So, it’s important to look beyond the charts when holding.
Is Axie Inifinity here to stay?
Axie Infinity has a long-term vision backed by a solid whitepaper with a well-defined roadmap and strategies. The project is led by a team of blockchain and gaming experts. More importantly, it is one of the most popular crypto games out there.
Given that gaming is one of the most lucrative segments in the cryptocurrency industry, if the project successfully keeps up with its whitepaper vision and roadmap, Axie Infinity will likely scale new heights. However, nothing in crypto is guaranteed, and investing in any token carries risk.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is Axie Infinity?
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