The play-to-earn gaming platform Axie Infinity just launched a staking program for one of its native tokens, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS).
According to a blogpost announcement released by the platform, holders of the AXS token can begin staking their digital assets and rewards will be activated in 24 hours. It stated, “Today, we’re delighted to announce the launch of our AXS staking program! This is an important step towards our long-term goal of genuine co-ownership of Axie Infinity with community members that contribute meaningfully to our rapidly growing movement. Staking allows you to lock up your precious AXS to earn AXS rewards. Reward distribution will start tomorrow, this is to ensure that our AXS holders in all time zones have a chance to stake before rewards are turned on.”
The Axie Infinity team further explained that “These initial rewards are taken from a pool set aside to encourage you to lock up your AXS. Over the months and years to come, staking will ultimately enable community members to jointly make decisions on the future direction of Axie, including having a say on the uses of the Community Treasury.”
The Axie Infinity platform growth
The Axie Infinity platform took the gaming community by storm. The platform has been responsible for astronomical growth and interest in the NFT and blockchain gaming industry. In September, the platform generated over $220 million (64,933.71 ETH).
Majority of the players come from the Philippines as the country represents 40% of the total users, playing on the platform. Venezuela comes in second, representing 6.31% of the total users of the platform.
The Community Treasury of Axie Infinity holds over 18 million AXS tokens worth over $1.4 billion. The team plans to offer voting rights and “a say over the use of the Community Treasury” by staking.
According to the official statement, about 58 million of the set capitalization of 270 million AXS tokens is currently in circulation while the rest would be distributed via staking, gameplay rewards, and ecosystem reward structures in the first month of the staking program. Meanwhile, a total of 2 million AXS tokens are scheduled to be distributed already.
Bottomline
The AXS token is currently trading at $77, down 1.43% for the day, as of the time of this writing. It is currently ranked #33 by market capitalization which currently stands at $4.7 billion. The token flipped popular DEX platform PancakeSwap’s native token, Cake, which has a market capitalization of $4.3 billion. The platform has gained so much traction in the Philippines that the Department of Finance in the country, has stated that players of the game will begin to pay income taxes as reports have stated that the platform has helped as an alternative source of revenue.
