Axie Infinity Shards

Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) is the governance token of the Axie Infinity ecosystem, developed by Sky Mavis. Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based gaming ecosystem centred on digital creatures called Axies, which players can collect, breed and use across different games and experiences.

AXS is an ERC-20 token used for governance, staking and activities within the Axie ecosystem. In 2021, its Ethereum contract was upgraded to improve tracking by third-party data providers and provide compatibility with Ronin, the blockchain developed by Sky Mavis for Axie Infinity.

In 2026, Axie Infinity introduced Bonded AXS (bAXS), a non-transferable token backed 1:1 by AXS. AXS acts as the reserve asset for bAXS, which is used for a number of player rewards and activities within the Axie ecosystem.

AXS has several functions within the Axie Infinity ecosystem:

• Governance: Staked AXS contributes to a user's voting power in the Axie Governance Portal. Voting power can also depend on the user's Axie Score, which reflects certain forms of participation within the ecosystem.
• Staking: AXS holders can stake their tokens to receive AXS rewards. Staked AXS also contributes to voting power in ecosystem governance.
• Ecosystem payments: AXS can be used for activities including breeding Axies, ascension, evolution, forging and minting certain in-game items. It is also one of the tokens supported for purchases on the Axie marketplace.
• Supporting bAXS: AXS backs Bonded AXS on a 1:1 basis. bAXS is non-transferable and can be earned through Axie games and other ecosystem activities. It can be used for several functions within the ecosystem and can be converted to AXS, with the amount received affected by the user's Axie Score.

Player rewards that were previously distributed directly in AXS have increasingly moved to bAXS. This includes rewards from games and activities such as Axie Infinity: Origins, Axie Classic and Terrariums.

Axie Infinity and its governance token, AXS, were created by Sky Mavis, a technology company focused on blockchain and gaming. The game was launched in 2018 by co-founders Trung Nguyen and Aleksander Larsen, with the aim of creating a blockchain-based game where players could own, trade and use digital assets across the Axie Infinity ecosystem.

Blockchain technology is used to give players ownership of in-game assets and to support governance through AXS. The token was later introduced to allow holders to participate in governance, stake AXS and interact with the ecosystem's economy. Sky Mavis also worked with Delphi Digital on the design of AXS, with the token model developed based on principles provided by the Sky Mavis team.