Blockchain-based play-to-earn game Axie Infinity has reached a new milestone. The total value of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) sold in the game has breached the $4 billion mark for the first time, according to data from industry tracking site, CryptoSlam.
Axie Infinity’s gaming model involves the conversion of in-game assets into NFTs, which players can freely trade using an in-house marketplace. Axies (in-game characters that players collect and breed) constitute a majority of Axie Infinity’s NFT trading volume. There are over 2.8 million Axie holders with over 14 million Axie-related transactions recorded since the game launched in 2018.
Axie Infinity Leads NFT Market
In a period of surging public interest in NFTs, Axie Infinity has maintained its market leading position. The value of traded Axie Infinity-based assets is almost twice as much as the closest NFT collection, CryptoPunks ($2 billion), and three times more than the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection.
However, Axie Infinity’s recent milestone comes at a time when daily trading volumes for the game’s assets sit near yearly lows. This month, Axie Infinity’s marketplace has seen a daily average of $3.2 million worth of transactions, a figure that is significantly lower than the $40 million recorded during the market peak in November.
The Axie community recorded its largest NFT land sale worth $2.3 million in the build up to the market decline.
(Source: CryptoSlam)
The current decline in volume, however, mirrors the broader crypto market, which has struggled to recover since hitting an all-time high around the same period.
Meanwhile, Sky Marvis, the startup behind the Axie Infinity game, raised $152 million in October to boost its development and recently unveiled Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain which now hosts the game’s resources. Ronin notably facilitates cheaper and faster transactions for the Axie gaming community, and has played a key role in the project’s growth in recent months.
