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What is Axie Infinity Shards ($AXS), and how does it work?
Operating on the custom-built Ronin sidechain of Ethereum, the Axie Infinity (AXS) token was introduced as an ERC-20 token.
AXS tokens are used in the universe of Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based game that uses Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as integral parts of the gameplay. Operating as a turn-based card game, players can breed, raise, battle, and trade creatures known as Axies.
As a Pokemon and Tamagotchi-inspired game, Axie Infinity offers NFTs in the game to represent these unique and cute creatures, their abilities, as well as plots of land.
But where do Axie Infinity Shard tokens come into play?
What is Axie Infinity Shards ($AXS)?
Before answering this, it’s essential to understand some background on NFT gaming and how the actual Axie Infinity game operates.
NFT-based online games aren't a new concept. As far back as 2017, with the launch of CryptoKitties, many of them can be regarded as reasonably profitable.
Axie Infinity, on the other hand, stands out from the rest. Axie Infinity has achieved tremendous success, as evidenced by the company's current market value of more than $2 billion. This year alone, the company expects to make more than $1 billion in revenue.
What is the Axie Infinity game?
Even though Axie Infinity is the game that practically made NFT gaming famous a while back, it is still very popular.
This continued success proves that these new types of games – or at least the market leaders, such as Axie Infinity – have a long-term future. In addition, this monster-breeding RPG has proven that NFT games can work properly, be rewarding, and, most importantly, be enjoyable.
While the game shares some similarities with famous brands like Pokémon and Digimon, it goes further in its engagement with players by encouraging time and monetary investment into the Axie universe. With Axie Infinity, blockchain technology creates a more exciting feel to the game than with Pokémon.
Exploration, combat, and breeding Axies are all part of the game's core mechanics. With the help of smart contract technology, you can take on bots or other players in the game in various battles. Game mechanics include quests, PvP Arena combat, and an Adventure Mode.
Once upon a time, when Axie Infinity initially launched, you had to buy multiple Axie NFTs from their dedicated NFT marketplace. However, now that the game has been around for a while, players can now join the game without having to pay. That said, the abilities of their free Axies are severely constrained to balance out the market forces in-game.
Speaking on in-game mechanics, Axie Infinity also has another token, the ERC-20 in-game native utility token known as Smooth Love Potion (SLP), which can be used to buy and breed Axies again and again. Players receive SLP rewards for completing specific game mechanics.
It’s important to note that the game has become a popular pastime worldwide, especially in developing countries like the Philippines. This is mainly because NFT gaming enables people to earn money via play-to-earn (P2E) mechanics.
Finally: where do Axie Infinity Shards fit into all this?
What is the purpose of Axie Infinity Shards?
Players can earn two tokens when playing in Adventure or Arena mode, AXS and SLP. To put it simply:
- AXS is the foundation of the AXS ecosystem as it can be used for staking, marketplace payments, and governance, so players can vote on how they want to see things progress in the gaming experience. We will go into more detail on these features later in this article.
- SLP is an in-game currency that can be used to breed Axies. (Although AXS will be needed for this process, too).
What is the Axie Marketplace?
Each Axie has been recorded on the blockchain. These Axie NFTs can be bought and sold in-game and through external NFT marketplaces. The Axie Infinity Marketplace is the best place to find Axies that are for sale and to buy them. Here, players can see which Axies are for sale or which ones have been sold to other players recently. Players can also use the filters in the marketplace to find Axies with the class, body parts, stats, price, and other things they want.
This is where the potential for making a profit frequently arises, as Axie NFTs can be sold at a higher price if another player wants to buy them.
Their rarity and uniqueness determine the value of these digital pets on Ethereum NFT marketplaces. Ethereum’s proof-of-work (POW) consensus algorithm is utilised to help ensure the security of the universe.
And where can you find and acquire even rarer NFTs? The quickest and easiest way to acquire the most unique and coveted creatures is to create them by breeding them. Each time you try to make a new Axie, you will be charged an SLP crypto token fee, which can also be purchased on exchanges.
But, how does the process of breeding work? Each Axie has unique DNA markers that make it truly individual. Like in real life, Axies' good and bad traits get passed down from generation to generation.
Axie Infinity has a detailed section in their whitepaper on Breeding and $SLP that explains the digital biological process in more detail.
Who is the Founder of $AXS?
Sky Mavis, a game developer primarily based in Vietnam and focused on technological innovation, founded Axie Infinity in 2018. A total of 25 full-time employees make up the Axie Infinity team, many of whom have previous game development experience.
The platform's CEO at the moment is Trung Nguyen, who, before founding Axie Infinity, earned a bachelor's degree in computer software engineering and worked as a software engineer at Anduin Transactions.
Co-founder and COO Aleksander Larsen was a former competitive gamer, with blockchain gaming being Larsen's specialty since 2017. Outside of gaming, he has served as the executive security officer for the Norwegian Government Security Organisation and still holds a position at the Blockchain Game Alliance.
What is the $AXS Token?
In a way, members of the Axie community are held together by AXS. Why? As the Axie universe uses AXS as a governance token. This means that those who hold AXS will have a say in how the ecosystem evolves and how the community treasury is used going forward.
In addition, rewards are given to AXS holders who stake tokens in the game and vote on important governance decisions. Players can also earn $AXS by playing various game modes and participating in user-generated content initiatives.
Despite its video game origins, AXS can be used similarly to any other crypto token.
- Staking – Incentives for AXS ownership and ecosystem support are provided through AXS staking. Newly created AXS tokens can be earned by locking up your tokens in the ecosystem, voting on proposals, and playing the game.
- Payment – The Axie NFT marketplace accepts AXS as currency, enabling players to purchase or sell Axie NFTs.
- Governance – Not only are run-of-the-mill proposals voted on, but Axie Infinity has a community treasury that takes a share of Axie Infinity's revenues – along with some of the staking rewards and pools it together. The treasury’s funds are then spent based on decisions made via governance proposals.
How to buy Axie Infinity Shards? $AXS
AXS is available on many cryptocurrency exchanges, including, Okx, Binance, and Uniswap.
Always remember to do your homework first and never put more money at risk than you are willing to lose.
How do you make money with Axie Infinity Shards?
NFT technology holds the value of Axies. As mentioned above, players must breed their Axies to create new Axies with rarer and more unique traits and stats to make a profit. In other words, the quality of an Axie determines its sale price, such as whether or not it has well-balanced stats or a powerful combination of abilities. Then, the rarer NFT can be flipped and sold for profit.
However, breeding Axies requires a variety of things:
- Two compatible Axies
- A certain amount of $SLP tokens
- A certain amount of $AXS tokens
Keep in mind that Axies with poor stats and the lowest prices in the market are currently selling for an average of 0.05 to 0.06 ETH. So, remember, in the end, it's your decision whether or not to keep or sell the Axie that you've successfully bred.
What makes $AXS different? Benefits of Axie Infinity Shards
Not only are AXS part of a revolutionary new way of gaming, there a numerous aspects to both the game and its accompanying governance token that set it apart from other cryptocurrency tokens.
The game has staying power
Axie Infinity has been around for a long time, especially compared to the rest of the crypto world. And its popularity shows no significant sign of dwindling.
For example, Axie Infinity is still a massive hit at the moment. In terms of daily, weekly, and active users, the network is the most popular amongst all NFT games, as:
- More than 250,000 people play every day
- And the game has generated over 13,000 ETH in revenue so far.
Axie Infinity may have an advantage over other crypto-based games in the future because of the game's long-lasting popularity. This is because players’ Axies have been purchased by those players, players who have invested both time and actual money into the game. As a result, players may be less inclined to jump ship to a new crypto game if they have to reinvest money all over again.
AXS has a wide range of applications that puts players first
Customers who buy digital assets in the traditional gaming market never actually own those assets. Your in-game skin stays locked inside that game forever.
Axie Infinity is a paradigm shift that places real ownership back in the hands of gamers through its NFT and blockchain technology which allows players to trace their ownership of every digital item they purchase.
One of Axie Infinity's most innovative features is Ronin, an app-specific sidechain. According to Sky Mavis, the company behind the Axie Infinity game, the new technology will enable near-instantaneous confirmation of transactions, lower gas costs, and help Axie Infinity scale.
Axie Infinity harnesses the power of gamification
Axie Infinity has given a possible solution to this barrier to adopting NFT and blockchain technology. With the help of this platform, anyone can learn about the potential of these technologies in an entertaining, educational, and gamified way that's easy and intuitive to understand.
It has already been able to make this vision a reality, as Axie Infinity is now a well-known way for people in many developing countries to get into the blockchain industry, despite high economic barriers typically being limiting.
Players used to have to buy 3 Axies before being able to play the game. Axie Infinity can now be played for free, a feature that acts like a demo that restricts gameplay but allows players to get a feel for the game. This technique is part of Axie’s gamification strategy as they know that after playing with NFTs and feeling a sense of ownership, users are more likely to invest money in them.
It is making gaming profitable
Axie Infinity has the potential for a high return on investment. Subsequently, it's become something of a jobs marketplace in certain parts of the world.
The Covid-19 pandemic fueled the growth of this revenue-generating segment of the market, making it no longer uncommon to see full-time gamers profiting from the ecosystem.
How many Axie Infinity Shards ($AXS) tokens are there?
Max Supply: 270,000,000
Circulating Supply (12/08/2022): 89,690,090
Currently, approximately 33.2% of the total supply is already in circulation.
Note: CoinGecko is where we get our information from. The information provided was current at the time of publication.
What is the Current Price and current Market Cap of Axie Infinity Shards? (12/08/2022)?
Current Price: $18.49
Current Market Cap: $1,660,639,792
Current Market Cap Position: #44
All-Time Low: $0.123718 on November 6th, 2020
All-Time High: $164.90 on November 6th, 2021
Note: CoinGecko is where we get our information from. The information provided was current at the time of publication.
Conclusion
Ready to get involved with Axie Infinity and its Shards already? Join its thriving community of players on one of its channels:
- Axie Infinity - Reddit
- Axie Infinity - Twitter
- Axie Infinity - Facebook
- Axie Infinity’s Regional Discords
- Axie Infinity’s Website
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