Axie Infinity (Shards) (AXS) is the governance and utility token of Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based game built by Sky Mavis. The token's canonical, most-liquid contract is deployed on Ethereum mainnet (2021-04-26), while the Axie Infinity game itself, along with AXS staking and governance, runs on Ronin, Sky Mavis's own Ethereum-compatible sidechain. AXS also has deployments on BNB Smart Chain, Energi, and Harmony. As of 2026-09-01, AXS trades near $0.917, with a market capitalization of roughly $159.9 million.
AXS lets holders stake the token to earn additional AXS and vote on Axie Improvement Proposals (AIPs) governing game mechanics, economic parameters, and treasury spending. This ties token ownership to influence over the game's economy.
In 2026 Sky Mavis introduced bAXS (Bonded AXS), a 1:1 AXS-backed token that replaced AXS for in-game play-to-earn rewards starting April 7, 2026. Sellers pay a variable treasury fee scaled to their in-game "Axie Score," a mechanism designed to curb reward-driven sell pressure; the change coincided with a sharp AXS price rally.
AXS is both a governance and a utility token. Holders stake AXS to earn additional AXS as a reward, and staked AXS combined with a holder's on-platform "Axie Score" determines voting power on Axie Improvement Proposals covering game mechanics, economic parameters, and treasury use.
AXS also underpins the game's play-to-earn economy; since April 2026, in-game rewards are issued in the related bAXS token, which is backed 1:1 by AXS and carries the same staking and governance utility.
AXS has a fixed maximum supply of 270,000,000 tokens, with 174,426,379 AXS in circulation as of 2026-09-01.
Some allocations, including staking rewards, use cliff vesting rather than linear release. Fully diluted value (~$247.5 million) exceeds market capitalization (~$159.9 million), and token supply inflation is measured at a moderate signal of 0.31%.
AXS was distributed through public and private token sales rather than a pure airdrop, alongside equity funding raised by developer Sky Mavis. Sky Mavis, founded in 2018, raised a $1.5 million seed round led by Animoca Brands (2019), a $7.5 million Series A (May 2021) including Mark Cuban and Alexis Ohanian, and a $152 million Series B (October 2021) led by Andreessen Horowitz with Accel and Paradigm, valuing the company at roughly $3 billion.
The AXS contract used for pricing was deployed on Ethereum on 2021-04-26, three years after Sky Mavis's 2018 founding.
AXS's native chain is Ronin, Sky Mavis's own Ethereum-compatible sidechain, secured by a delegated-proof-of-stake (DPoS) validator set, where the game's economy and AXS staking and governance take place. Its canonical, most-liquid contract for market pricing is deployed on Ethereum mainnet, with further deployments on BNB Smart Chain, Energi, and Harmony.
Sky Mavis, the game's developer, was founded in 2018 by five co-founders: Trung Nguyen (CEO), Aleksander Leonard Larsen (COO), Jeffrey "Jihoz" Zirlin, Tu Doan ("Masamune"), and Viet Anh Ho (CTO).
Trung Nguyen leads the game's economy design, Larsen leads fundraising and investor relations, and Zirlin leads growth and community.
Axie Infinity is developed and maintained by Sky Mavis Pte. Ltd., incorporated in Singapore on 24 April 2019.
Sky Mavis also operates Sky Mavis Vietnam Company Limited for its Vietnam-based operations, with the team having expanded from its original base in Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore and Hong Kong. Sky Mavis built and operates Ronin, the Ethereum-compatible sidechain on which the Axie Infinity game and AXS staking and governance run.
AXS is described by Sky Mavis as the governance token of Axie Infinity, with holders voting on Axie Improvement Proposals (AIPs) that set game mechanics, economic parameters, and treasury spending.
Voting power depends on the amount of AXS staked and a holder's "Axie Score," an on-platform contribution metric. Sky Mavis characterizes this as a "progressive decentralization" roadmap toward a community-run structure, rather than a currently fully decentralized DAO.
Sky Mavis introduced bAXS (Bonded AXS), an ERC-20 token backed 1:1 by AXS, which replaced AXS for classic in-game play-to-earn rewards on April 7, 2026.
Sky Mavis's Ronin chain, including its delegated-proof-of-stake validator contracts, has been audited by CertiK and Verichains.
In March 2022, attackers compromised 5 of 9 Ronin validator nodes and stole approximately 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC (roughly $625 million) in the Ronin Bridge hack, undetected for about six days. Sky Mavis raised $150 million led by Binance, fully reimbursed affected users, and relaunched the bridge in June 2022 with a circuit-breaker system after further audits. On-chain data also shows the top 10 AXS holder addresses controlling about 87% of supply, and thin on-chain liquidity relative to market capitalization.
