Axie Infinity Tokens Surge Amid Major Tokenomics Reforms

On January 23, Axie Infinity ecosystem tokens AXS and SLP have experienced significant growth over several weeks. According to BlockBeats, AXS has surged over 247% in the past 30 days, raising its market capitalization to $748 million, while SLP has increased by more than 42%, reaching a market cap of $38.48 million. The primary driver behind this surge is the aggressive tokenomics reform introduced by Axie Infinity's developer, Sky Mavis, at the beginning of 2026. Starting January 7, the emission of SLP in the Origins mode was completely halted, effectively disrupting the 'farm-and-dump' cycle of automated bot farms. This move significantly reduced the daily supply of SLP, decreasing inflationary pressure by over 30% and alleviating long-term selling pressure. Additionally, Sky Mavis introduced bAXS (Bonded AXS), a non-transferable token that replaces the previous freely tradable AXS game reward mechanism. The new token is bound to player accounts and can only be used for in-game consumption, staking, or governance. Players with high reputations benefit from lower transaction fees when selling, aiming to reward genuine players rather than short-term speculators, further creating supply contraction expectations and curbing bot proliferation. These structural changes are considered the largest economic model overhaul for Axie Infinity since its peak in 2021. Co-founder Jihoz emphasized that 2026 will involve taking 'greater risks,' including upcoming content updates like Atia's Legacy MMO Beta, to revitalize player engagement and ensure ecosystem sustainability.