AXS HAS BEEN PERFORMING SO WELL

Our beloved 2021 Coin, Axie Infinity (AXS) has so far performed so very well in January, pumping even though the crypto market has been struggling due to geopolitical tensions and weak risk sentiment. The major reason for the pump was due to tokenomics update

The catalyst was the introduction of Bonded AXS (bAXS), announced on 14 January & launched with Origins Season 16 on January 21

Interesting to know that under this system, all in-game rewards are paid in bAXS, a non-transferable token backed 1:1 by AXS.

That means that players can use bAXS inside the game, but converting it back to tradable AXS requires paying a fee. Trusted players pay less, but shirt-term farmers & bots will pay more ( you dont want to do that , lol).

I believe the team's goal is to maintain value inside the ecosystem, limit automated farming or syblling , reducing sells pressure reduce sell pressure. Its very important because in 2025, around 10 million AXS entered the market through gameplay rewards. Locking rewards as bAXS means less immediate supply hitting exchanges, which helped fuel bullish expectations.

However, on-chain data tells a weaker story. Daily active users have dropped much to 34,000, down from previous averages near 50,000–70,000. Aslo the transaction activity have fallen by more than 50%, even after the bAXS launch which doesnt sound cool, which ofcourse implying that the update have not yet revived real usage.

The pump is majorly driven by derivatives trading. The Futures open interest have increased over 7x, while funding rates remain negative, implying that heavy speculative positioning.

From my research and conclusion, AXS is pumping based on expectations /speculations and leverage and not because of their improved utilities and fundamentals. Until user activity recovers, the pump looks more like a positioning trade than a lasting trend.