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

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In brief - The Ronin blockchain will migrate to Ethereum layer-2 on May 12 after four years as a sidechain. - RON token inflation will drop dramatically from over 20% to less than 1%. - Ronin’s token is down nearly 98% from peak, reflecting flagging momentum across the crypto gaming industry. Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain that powers games like Axie Infinity and Pixels, will migrate to become a true Ethereum layer-2 scaling network on May 12, marking a fundamental shift after four years operating as an Ethereum sidechain. The migration will trigger at block 55,577,490, transitioning Ronin to the OP Stack, Ethereum layer-2 infrastructure that powers millions of transactions daily across other scaling networks. Users should prepare for approximately 10 hours of mainnet downtime between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET during the transition, Ronin developers said, with games potentially unavailable during that span. The economic restructuring is sweeping. RON token inflation will plummet from over 20% to less than 1%, while marketplace fees flowing to the Treasury jump 2.5x from 0.5% to 1.25%. Additionally, 90 million RON tokens previously allocated for staking will be redirected to the Ronin treasury. A new "proof of distribution" system launching with the migration will automate RON rewards for developers, replacing manual allocation processes as the network reestablishes itself within Ethereum's ecosystem. The timing reflects mounting pressure on standalone gaming chains to leverage established infrastructure rather than maintain costly independent networks. Ronin processed billions of dollars worth of NFT trading volume during Axie Infinity's 2021-2022 peak, but sustaining that infrastructure has proven challenging as the crypto gaming market declined. Ronin launched in 2021 specifically to handle Axie Infinity's transaction demands when Ethereum's mainnet fees made gaming economically unfeasible. The sidechain solution enabled the play-to-earn phenomenon that attracted millions of daily users and generated unprecedented trading volumes for blockchain gaming. Now, Ronin developer Sky Mavis says that advances in layer-2 technology offer the same benefits—low costs and high throughput—while inheriting Ethereum's security guarantees. While the RON token is up about 11% over the last week to a recent price of $0.097, it’s had a brutal fall over the last couple of years as crypto gaming momentum largely disappeared. RON has fallen by nearly 81% in the last year, per data from CoinGecko, and is now down about 98% from a peak price of $4.45 set in March 2024. The tokens of top games on Ronin have also cratered, with Axie Infinity’s AXS token down over 99% from its November 2021 peak, and Pixels’ PIXEL token down just as much from its own March 2024 high. But that’s not an issue isolated to Ronin or its games, with other major gaming tokens like Immutable (IMX) and Gala Games (GALA) also down at least 98% from their respective peaks. Numerous prominent crypto games shut down over the course of 2025, often with developers citing a lack of funding and player interest to continue operations. That trend has continued into 2026 with the recent closure of games like Forgotten Runiverse on Ronin and Xociety on Sui. Industry experts told Decrypt in late 2025 that the wave of crypto game closures centered on the disappearance of venture capital funding amid flagging blockchain gaming momentum, driving many projects to either pivot their focus or shut down their games entirely. That downward swing has only persisted into this year, so far.

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