After the NFT cryptocurrency-collectibles exploded in popularity in early 2021, several blockchain-based gaming companies began working to get their share in the new market. The Axie Infinity game, by indie studio Sky Mavis, was one of them.
Inspired by Nintendo's Pokemon series, the monster-battling game defied the recent crypto market crash and grew its active daily user base to over 1.8 million people worldwide. Moreover, the blockchain-based game has seen the value of its native crypto soar to record highs.
According to data presented by Mejores Apuestas, the market cap of Axie Infinity(AXS) tokens soared by 27,600% YTD and hit $7.9bn last week, showing the biggest growth among the top ten NFT coins.
Market Cap Doubled in Three Days After Massive Airdrop and AXS Staking
The blockchain-based game Axie Infinity runs on the Ethereum blockchain with help from a side chain called Ronin. Its play-to-earn approach rewards successful players in crypto tokens that can be exchanged for money.
Also, players get to own Axie NFTs, which allow them to participate in key votes in the Axie universe and represent one of the revenue streams for the company itself. The gaming company earns revenue by charging a 4.25% fee when players buy or sell Axie NFTs in its marketplace and by collecting fees for creating and breeding token-based creatures called Axies.
In January this year, the market cap of AXS tokens amounted to $28.5 million, revealed the CoinMarketCap data. By the end of the first quarter, this figure increased almost nine times to $248 million.
In May, after Sky Mavis raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, the combined value of all AXS tokens jumped to $508 million, and then almost halved in the next few weeks. In July, Axie Infinity's market cap recovered and hit over $1.5bn, but that was nothing compared to the growth seen this month.
In the first three days of October, Axie Infinity's price doubled and hit a record high above $145, following the release of a massive airdrop to early supporters and the launch of staking for AXS token and driving its market cap to $9.1bn. Although this figure dropped to $7.9bn last week, that is still 290 times more compared to January figures.
Almost Twenty Times Bigger Growth Than Other Leading NFT tokens
The growth of Axie Infinity's native crypto is even more impressive when compared to other leading NFTs. According to CoinMarketCap data, Sandbox was the second-fastest-growing NFT in 2021, with a 2,900% YTD increase and $680 million in market cap as of last week. Chilliz tokens ranked third with $1.9bn in market cap and a 1,607% growth in this period, almost twenty times less than the leading AXS.
Enjin Coin and Decentraland close the top five list, with their market caps surging by 1,115% and 1,066% since the beginning of the year.
