One hot altcoin is a prime example of the crypto industry’s rapid expansion into other sectors of the economy, according to Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Armstrong shares a new Coinbase blog post to his 862,000 Twitter followers detailing the rise of Axie Infinity (AXS), the non-fungible-token-focused (NFT) play-to-earn video game that has recently exploded into prominence.
The report highlights the amount of revenue earned by Axie Infinity, which at $186 million is second only to Ethereum in the last 30 days, according to Token Terminal.
“Beyond the wealth Axie Infinity has created, the game’s popularity has served as a means for getting a large new class of users comfortable using crypto applications. As these 1 million users interface with cryptocurrencies, NFTs, digital wallets, and DEXs [decentralized exchanges], it’s not hard to see this new cohort as natural users of other DeFi and Web3 applications.”
Like Coinbase mentions in the report, Axie Infinity is sometimes compared to Pokémon because of how users collect various creatures called Axies and battle against those of other players.
Axies can also be “bred” with each other or traded to other players. When an Axie is bred or traded, the revenue goes to the Axie Infinity Treasury, which currently holds more than $600,000,000. The Axie Infinity economy consists of a governance token (AXS), and an in-game currency called Smooth Love Potion (SLP).
Coinbase says the whole ecosystem acts as its own digital economy.
“If Axie Infinity is its own digital nation, game developer Sky Mavis serves as its Federal Reserve. Where the Fed has various tools it uses to influence the economy, Sky Mavis can adjust the SLP issuance rate and breeding fees with the aim of keeping the Axie economy healthy.
Just like a real economy, digital economies have to consider the effects of inflation.”
Armstrong and Coinbase believe that Axie Infinity’s growth highlights how the digital asset landscape has matured into something more than just speculative trading and investing.
“With DeFi [decentralized finance], NFTs, and now crypto gaming, we’re rapidly evolving past the original crypto killer app of speculative trading and into a universe of expressive new apps and models.
We’re in fascinating times as crypto’s utility phase marches forward with a full head of steam.”
At time of writing, AXS is trading at $128, up over 100,000% in less than a year, according to CoinGecko.
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