'Axie Infinity' Gaming Network Ronin Sets Date for Ethereum Layer-2 Migration

Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain that powers games similar Axie Infinity and Pixels, volition migrate to go a existent Ethereum layer-2 scaling web connected May 12, marking a cardinal displacement aft 4 years operating arsenic an Ethereum sidechain.

The migration volition trigger astatine artifact 55,577,490, transitioning Ronin to the OP Stack, Ethereum layer-2 infrastructure that powers millions of transactions regular crossed different scaling networks. Users should hole for astir 10 hours of mainnet downtime betwixt 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET during the transition, Ronin developers said, with games perchance unavailable during that span.

The economical restructuring is sweeping. RON token ostentation volition plummet from implicit 20% to little than 1%, portion marketplace fees flowing to the Treasury leap 2.5x from 0.5% to 1.25%. Additionally, 90 cardinal RON tokens antecedently allocated for staking volition beryllium redirected to the Ronin treasury.

A caller "proof of distribution" strategy launching with the migration volition automate RON rewards for developers, replacing manual allocation processes arsenic the web reestablishes itself wrong Ethereum's ecosystem.

The timing reflects mounting unit connected standalone gaming chains to leverage established infrastructure alternatively than support costly autarkic networks. Ronin processed billions of dollars worthy of NFT trading measurement during Axie Infinity's 2021-2022 peak, but sustaining that infrastructure has proven challenging arsenic the crypto gaming marketplace declined.

Ronin launched successful 2021 specifically to grip Axie Infinity's transaction demands erstwhile Ethereum's mainnet fees made gaming economically unfeasible. The sidechain solution enabled the play-to-earn improvement that attracted millions of regular users and generated unprecedented trading volumes for blockchain gaming.

Now, Ronin developer Sky Mavis says that advances successful layer-2 exertion connection the aforesaid benefits—low costs and precocious throughput—while inheriting Ethereum's information guarantees.

While the RON token is up astir 11% implicit the past week to a caller terms of $0.097, it’s had a brutal autumn implicit the past mates of years arsenic crypto gaming momentum mostly disappeared. RON has fallen by astir 81% successful the past year, per information from CoinGecko, and is present down astir 98% from a highest terms of $4.45 acceptable successful March 2024.

The tokens of apical games connected Ronin person besides cratered, with Axie Infinity’s AXS token down implicit 99% from its November 2021 peak, and Pixels’ PIXEL token down conscionable arsenic overmuch from its ain March 2024 high. But that’s not an contented isolated to Ronin oregon its games, with different large gaming tokens similar Immutable (IMX) and Gala Games (GALA) besides down astatine slightest 98% from their respective peaks.

Numerous salient crypto games shut down implicit the people of 2025, often with developers citing a deficiency of backing and subordinate involvement to proceed operations. That inclination has continued into 2026 with the caller closure of games similar Forgotten Runiverse connected Ronin and Xociety connected Sui.

Industry experts told Decrypt successful precocious 2025 that the question of crypto crippled closures centered connected the disappearance of task superior backing amid flagging blockchain gaming momentum, driving galore projects to either pivot their absorption oregon unopen down their games entirely. That downward plaything has lone persisted into this year, truthful far.