Is this why AXS is pumping?
GAMING CHRONICLES 150
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TLDR :
Axie Infinity introduces bAXS
Cambria update: The First Landing
ZBD raises $40M in a Series C
🗞️ NEWS
AXIE INFINITY INTRODUCES BAXS
Axie Infinity introduced bAXS (bonded AXS), a non-transferable Apptoken version of the original AXS that will replace all of the distributed seasonal rewards. The token is backed 1:1 by AXS
The purpose of bAXS is to continue rewarding players. Instead of 90% or more of these incentives turning into selling pressure, more of this value will be retained within the ecosystem. This will help to support long-term sustainability
Players who want to convert bAXS into AXS will have to pay a Treasury fee, based on their Axie Score. The higher your “reputation” within the ecosystem, the lower the fees you pay
Speaking of the Axie Treasury, it currently still holds ~$68M in assets
What is the Axie Score? “Axie Score is a point-based system that reflects your achievements and contributions within the Axie Infinity ecosystem”
bAXS will enjoy the same utility as AXS has, and can be used across breeding, ascending, evolving, and staking
Overall, a very similar system to what Fishing Frenzy introduced in November, as discussed in GC Alpha 73. Looking at the token price of FISH, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of growth so far, but it’s quite stable
Interestingly, this wasn’t Axies’ first push towards more sustainability this month, as SLP got removed as a reward token from Axie Infinity: Origins in early January due to excessive botting
Currently, 168.24M out of the total supply of 270M AXS is circulating (in the market and tradeable by the public), that’s 62%. The token will be fully unlocked according to its vesting schedule by April 2026
20% ($54M) of the AXS supply is allocated to the “Play to Earn” bucket. I’m unsure how many of the tokens in this bucket have been distributed yet, to understand how significant the bAXS → AXS transition is
In this clip, Jeffrey Kam says: “…and slowly transition ecosystem rewards and gameplay rewards into bAXS”. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if other emissions buckets in the future, outside of P2E, will be considered as well
Shortly after the official announcement of the transition to bAXS, the token also got listed on Hyperliquid. Together, this made quite an impact on the token price, as it’s now trading at ~$2.80 (up 149% WoW). Of course, it’s still a long way from its peak at $153+, and it’s still down 52% YoY
Looking at potential future catalysts, the largest one is Atia’s Legacy, coming out somewhere in the next 1-2 years or so. The game is mentioned to be “powered by AXS”, and when it releases, I assume rewards will be distributed in bAXS as well?
DUEL ARENA: FIRST LANDING
Cambria’s Duel Arena: First Landing (FL) is now live. A new progression loop called “Islands” (bound to the NFT collection), which aims to connect the Duel Arena with the broader 24/7 Cambria World economy. Here’s the rundown:
Note: We discussed the initial introduction of the Land NFT Collection in GC News 142
The FL is the 1st part of a 3-step phase of the “path to Genesis” (connecting the economies).
(1) Introduces the Islands resource loop, Supply Drive, and economic foundations
(2) Playtests with a full integration of Duel Arena City into the main Cambria world
(3) Full launch of the interconnected economy
“This v0 of Island-related gameplay will serve as a fast-experiment ground for us to test upcoming Genesis gameplay loops and allow us to have something up 24/7 live while slowly integrating both game modes”
Future phases will include updates such as new building types, new economy loops, dungeons, Island variants, governance, alliances, and more
FL will introduce a casual fishing/mining game, processing with cooking/smithing, and a reward loop integrated with the Duel Arena
To participate in this new game, players need an Islet. These player-owned Islands need to be connected to an Island NFT (through ownership or settlement). An Islet can be acquired by spending 1M Arena Tokens:
“Arena Tokens (AT) are the main in-game currency in the Duel Arena world, primarily used to purchase items from the Arena Shop store - chests, emotes, rares, and other items.”
The “Weekly Supply Drive” is an event that automatically converts all finished (processed) goods in a player’s bank into Mandos’s Favor (a point system) that determines seasonal rewards and leaderboard placements
Performing activities on an Island requires Energy, which can be obtained through purchasing Orbs, dueling for ETH/RON, or betting on pit Fights
The FL is mentioned to be the final Duel Arena season before the token launch, with 1.5% of the total supply allocated to Trinkets
This season also introduces Mando’s Relics, a rare Duel Arena award that can be instantly cashed for a large amount of Arena Tokens
Island NFT holders have a list of benefits in the v0 version of the FL, including earning from tax rates on Islet earnings, from Islet purchases, and a % of the hosted Islet’s weekly points generated
The number of Islets that can be hosted on an Island NFT is dependent on its Tier (1 to 5)
Despite generally being sceptical about Land NFTs, as they are rarely successful, Cambria seems to be heading in the right direction with its integration. How the players will receive these new features is something I’ll keep an eye on in the following weeks
With the game slowly transitioning to a 24/7 format, it is also now getting closer to a state in which it can scale to a Web2 audience:
From Ben, last November: “if you’re looking at the tech adoption curve, we’re targeting the early adopters right now. A lot of which are already in crypto, right?…as we go along the curve…we’ll eventually start hitting the really big audiences”
ZBD RAISES $40M IN A SERIES C
ZBD, “The Payment Stack for Games,” just announced that they raised $40M in their Series C, backed by Blockstream Capital Partners
The new funding will go towards scaling embedded rewards in games, extending payment infrastructure into the broader creator economy, and expanding their footprint in new regions
Including this third fundraising round, ZBD has raised a total of $90M. The company’s Series A from 2021 was $11.5M, and its Series B in 2022 was $35M
If you’re not familiar with the name ZBD, Bitcoin Miner (BM) might ring a bell? One of the largest “crypto games” that enables rewarded play (P2E) through ZBD.
The hook for players is quite simple: play games, watch ads, complete surveys, etc. → get paid in sats (BTC) → cash out in gift cards, cash, or straight in BTC
Fumb Games, the studio behind Bitcoin Miner, raised $12M in a round last September for UA funding
ZBD is essentially a loyalty platform/get-paid-to platform, like Freecash, but then pays out in BTC rewards (sats). Rewarded play has proven to drive various metrics like LTV, engagement, and retention meaningfully, as seen with the success of BM:
It increased their 30-day retention by 1,000% after adding BTC rewards to the game. From the founder of Fumb as part of their raise announcement: “We originally side hustled and bootstrapped Fumb with $3,000. Fast forward, and our little studio now makes this every hour”
Furthermore, ZBD’s reward rails increased the ARPU of PlayEmber’s games by 380% on D14. The company also works with TapNation, Fountain, and Mobile Esports
So, why BTC? Because of the Lightning Network (an L2 on Bitcoin). The only mechanism that allows developers to pay out sub-1-cent nanotransactions effectively (speed, bandwidth, and cost). Something that simply isn’t possible through traditional fiat rails or the majority of blockchains, actually
JACL described the end game for nano-rewarded games in 2023 as: “Increased retention is a given but converting that into higher IAP-based rev = the true competitive adv.” Yet, he also notes how using “BTC” in your copy/creative increases CAC, and that n-rewards don’t always equal better metrics
In 2023, he wrote a paper called “Bitcoin Gaming & The Power Of Nano-Transactions”
On the topic of loyalty platforms, we know that Luke Barwikowski (founder of Pixels) has been building one called “Stacked”. Recently, he published an article on the topic, in which he said:
“If we execute, the outcome is bigger than “a Web3 game that survives.”
It’s a new growth primitive for games, one that’s measurable, defensible, and scalable…”
Overall, ZBD has demonstrated how rewarding play through BTC can meaningfully improve monetization and alter the gaming business model. As JACL says, this fundamental solution, which isn’t speculative, has been overlooked by CT, but it’s probably the vertical with the most adoption potential
FLASH NEWS
Basketball.fun launched (footballdotfun, but with basketballs on Somnia)
Project O shared that they’re launching in 2026 (est. late Summer)
Kuro Studios (Kuroro) is no longer part of the Believe ecosystem
🆕ALPHA CORNER
Early Games: None for this week.
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