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AXS, the native token of NFT battler game Axie Infinity, is up 130% on the week and up 190% on the month in the wake of a major anti-bot update to the title's rewards system.
What's the Scoop?
- The Catalyst: Axie Infinity's Origins Season 16 kicked off on Jan. 21st, launching a new competitive season featuring a new Bonded AXS rewards system and an 80,000 bAXS prize pool.
- Bonded Rewards: For Origins players, all in-game rewards are now distributed as bAXS, a nontransferable utility token backed 1:1 by AXS that can be used for breeding, evolving, and beyond.
- Anti-Bot Measure: Converting bAXS into liquid AXS incurs a Treasury fee tied to a player’s Axie Score, meaning high-reputation players pay less while bots and short-term farmers face steeper costs.
- Markets Approve: Since the bAXS changes were teased earlier this month, AXS has more than doubled in value and is currently trading around $2.50 per token. Traders are betting that the new rewards model can restore healthier player dynamics.
Bankless Take:
Historically, Axie Infinity has long had a thorn its side from bots and automated farms, and the value that these operators extract from the Axie ecosystem makes it so there are less earnings to go around for real human players.
Whether a wider crypto gaming bull run is upon is remains to be seen, but it's applaudable that Axie's team is prioritizing sustainable long-term participation over mercenaries, and their structural reform has been a hit with players. Now let's see if they can keep this momentum going.
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