Axie Infinity (AXS) Rallies Past $30 On BlockFi Support, Staking Plans

Popular gaming token Axie Infinity (AXS) rallied over the past 24 hours after introducing land staking rewards, while crypto lender BlockFi also added support for the token.

AXS jumped nearly 20% to $34.56, recovering sharply from a near one-year low hit earlier in the week. The token was the best performing metaverse currency in the past 24 hours.

The sharp gains likely indicate a turning point for AXS after it lost over 50% of its value on a crippling $600 million hack in late-March. The game also appears to be struggling with a falling player count.

Axie had earlier this week introduced rewards for staking virtual land in its game, in a bid to attract more players and push up AXS prices. The move appears to be successful so far.

BlockFi now supports AXS, 13 other tokens

In a blog post, crypto lender BlockFi said non-U.S. users will now be able to trade and earn interest on AXS and 13 other popular tokens. The move is effective from May 4.

The list also includes other popular metaverse tokens such as The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA), along with crypto stalwarts Terra (LUNA) and Binance Coin (BNB).

All of the mentioned tokens marked strong gains on Thursday, after the move. BlockFi is among the largest crypto lenders, with over 500,000 retail accounts- all of which will now have access to AXS and its peers.

Axie Infinity introduces land staking rewards

The popular play-to-earn game said it is introducing land staking rewards to promote owning  its virtual land, as well as improve its governance.

The move also comes as players responded to a delay in the game’s land features by putting their virtual plots for sale, driving land prices down significantly. Still, the land staking is temporary, with rewards set to transition to active gameplay after the land update is released.

The game now plans to roll out more programs to incentivize community participation