There's an EVM-based blockchain designed specifically for play-to-earn games called Ronin, and it has gained significant traction in just nine months. Ronin boasts impressive statistics, such as 250,000 unique daily active addresses, $5 billion in TVL, over 2 million wallet downloads, and 15% of all NFT transactions on the market. Among its features, the DEX Katana ranks second among decentralized exchanges in terms of weekly active users and facilitates token swapping within the Axie Infinity ecosystem.

The team behind Ronin is comprised of notable figures in the gaming and blockchain industries? Sky Mavis, the technology-focused game studio responsible for Ronin, was founded by Jeffrey Zirlin, a Yale graduate with four years of experience building Sky Mavis, and Alexander Leonard Larsen, a co-founder of both Sky Mavis and Axie Infinity, with a background in blockchain dating back to 2017. Larsen has also led multiple investment rounds for the company.

Ronin is a game-changer for the gaming industry, offering several benefits that set it apart from the rest. Firstly, it provides fast and cost-effective transactions, making it ideal for games like Axie that require frequent confirmation. Secondly, users can withdraw assets easily, allowing players to benefit from the profits they earn and swap tokens to other cryptocurrencies. Thirdly, Ronin offers an easy onboarding process for new users, with a fiat on-ramp and a native wallet, making it accessible to new players and cryptocurrency newbies alike. Sky Mavis has created Ronin to be the go-to NFT scaling solution for gaming, and it has already handled more NFT volume than all Ethereum NFT scaling solutions combined in 2021. With plans to decentralize further by opening up its validator application process, Ronin is set to become the premier location for launching Axie-related games and NFT games from other developers.

Ronin is a sidechain that is compatible with Ethereum, and it operates using a consensus mechanism known as proof-of-authority (PoA). Validators are chosen based on their reputation by the Ronin team, making it a relatively centralized mechanism. Some of the validators on Ronin include Binance, Ubisoft, and Animoca Brands. These validators are responsible for creating and validating blocks, updating price oracles, and approving asset deposits and transfers to and from Ronin. Additionally, validators have the power to add or remove other validators.

According to some analysts, there are indications that the price of Ronin will keep increasing, possibly even reaching $3.34 by 2025.