AXS, the governance token of the large blockchain-based gaming platform Axie Infinity, rallied in the crypto market today after the team behind it said that staking rewards should be introduced for token holders.
In the last 24 hours, the AXS token has increased by 4% and is trading at USD 
as of 12:54 UTC. The price has risen by almost 24% in the last 7 days, positioning it as the fourth best token of the week among the top 100 coins by market capitalization.
30-Day price chart of AXS. Source: CoinGecko
According to Axie Infinity’s announcement, staking rewards will be activated on Friday.
In addition, the team said that the initial rewards come from a pool of AXS tOkens provided specifically for this purpose, and that AXS tOkens will be distributed in the first month.
The monthly payout is equivalent to AXS 64,516 per day, which is worth just over USD4.9M at current prices.
No further details have been provided on the expected return for token holders who choose to lock their tokens.
To expand the use cases of the token, the team also said that certain governance rights will be introduced, including the ability to vote on the use of the community treasury.
The Axie Community Treasury now holds AXS tOkens worth nearly USD 1.4BN, public blockchain data show.
In the announcement, the team called the launch of staking “an important step toward our long-term goal of sharing Axie Infinity with community members,” adding that it’s a way for them to reward community members for “having a long-term mindset.”
Today’s staking update comes after Axie Infinity decided just last week to update the “BREEDING fees” for its game.
The changes were made at the time as a result of users’ concern about “an imbalance” in the distribution of the AXS Governance token compared to Smooth Love Potion (SLP) tOkens, which are earned by players and serve as an important piece of the gaming economy.
Before last week’s fee changes were made, the SLP token had just hit an all-time low of USD0.055 On the crypto exchange Binance, where the majority of tokens are traded.
As of 11:56 UTC on Thursday, the token is trading at USD 0.063, Slightly above the all-time low. However, the price of the SLP token remains in a downtrend after peaking at USD 0.410 In mid-July.
