Key Points
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AXS Staking Rewards Overview: After discussions with Axie contributors, we have decided to make several adjustments to the AXS staking reward distribution. This will allow us to further support the future development of Axie Infinity as we experiment with new incentive models. The token unlock schedule will proceed as described in the white paper. However, the distribution of these rewards changes.
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First adjustment: AXS staking rewards decrease by 5% every 9 days. This option was preferred by most contributors and ensures that staking rewards last indefinitely.
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Second adjustment: If all goes according to plan, we will begin awarding high Axie scores to select Lunacians starting in January 2026. These experiments include snapshots, airdrops, and further discussions with the community.
maniac. For some time now we have been discussing our collective desire to improve staking. Ideally, AXS staking is a mechanism that incentivizes community members to accumulate AXS over the long term. However, for staking to be successful in the long term, the utility it provides must go beyond simple passive returns. Examples of staking utilities may include in-game utilities such as progress boosts, return weighting add-ons, exclusive access, and various other DeFi features. We will first test new staking-related features on App.Axie before integrating them into Atia’s Legacy. However, this requires significant development time and resources.
Previously, we hosted a conversation in the community about how to start experimenting with staking rewards. We have heard from several contributors who have expressed concerns that changing the staking method and extending the reward distribution schedule may conflict with what was set out in the white paper four years ago. It can be useful to clearly distinguish between token unlocking and token distribution schedules. The original whitepaper outlines the token unlock schedule and will proceed as discussed. However, we have the flexibility to distribute tokens as we wish, and to date we have distributed approximately 95% of total staking rewards. Therefore, we want to use the remaining 5% as effectively as possible to improve the staking protocol, support future development, and experiment with future incentive models.
Therefore, as an experiment (thanks to those who helped create discussion options and suggested separating on-chain passive rewards from off-chain semi-active rewards – an idea that would greatly reduce the technical workload) and considering the strong need to integrate Axie scores into reward distribution, I would like to introduce our first staking experiment.
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The current staking system will follow the option preferred by most contributors to the conversation. In this system, rewards are reduced by 5% every 9 days, which is a nice byproduct of being able to continue staking indefinitely. This setup helps us observe how TVL responds to changes in emissions rather than simply changes in market prices. This update starts on December 1st.
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At the same time, we will begin an experiment where we manually reward individuals with high Axie scores. Users with higher Axie scores or larger staking amounts will be rewarded through monthly snapshots and airdrops. If all goes as planned, the experiment will begin in January 2026.
These changes are part of an experiment to help us understand how staking behavior and TVL react independently of token price, and how we can utilize different reward structures to positively impact user engagement. Because updating smart contracts that use off-chain data such as Axie scores is technically complex, we will start with a more manual and experimental approach by splitting the staking reward pool into two parallel executions.
This will allow us to experiment with how semi-active contribution-based rewards impact user behavior, and serves as a first step toward integrating Axie Score into future distribution models not only for staking, but across the Axie economy. More details will be provided through future announcements.