Ethereum-based play-to-earn game Axie Infinity exploded in popularity this summer following the launch of Ronin, a custom sidechain that enabled speedy, low-cost transactions. Now Ronin has picked up added utility with the rollout of its own decentralized exchange (DEX), and the game’s tokenstokens are surging in price today.

Launched early this morning, Katana is a DEX that runs natively on Ronin, making it easier for Axie Infinity players to swap tokens directly on the sidechainsidechain itself. That means that players don’t have to bridge tokens to EthereumEthereum first, for example, which introduces additional fees and hassle to the process.

With the initial version of Katana, players can swap Axie Infinity’s Smooth Love Potion (SLP) reward tokens and AXS governance tokens (those that grant voting rights to holders), along with Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) and the USDC dollar-pegged stablecoin. Because it’s a decentralized exchange, transactions take place via user-backed liquidityliquidity pools with no centralized authority or middleman.

Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity, has also launched a new RON ecosystem token that will be used for Ronin transactions. Currently, users are allowed 100 free Ronin transactions per day, but eventually the network will transition to using RON for Ronin fees. Users can stake tokens into SLP/ETH or AXS/ETH pools on Katana to provide liquidity and earn rewards.

According to a post from Sky Mavis, Katana is designed to simplify the process of moving funds around the Axie ecosystem and minimize fees, as well as increase liquidity for assets and “reduce our reliance on other parties by becoming the largest exchange for our ecosystem’s tokens.”

Axie’s SLP token has pumped significantly since Katana’s launch this morning, and is currently up 74% to a price of nearly $0.12 per token, per CoinGecko. SLP is key to the monster battling game’s play-to-earn model, as users earn token rewards for competing against other players online and can swap the tokens for other cryptocurrencies.

The game’s AXS governance token is also up today, rising 10% over the last 24 hours to a current price above $150. AXS set an all-time high of $162 less than a week ago, and has skyrocketed over the course of 2021, rising from a price of under $0.60 on January 1.

Axie Infinity has rapidly become the most prominent blockchainblockchain game on the market, generating more than $2.8 billion worth of NFT trading volume to date, per CryptoSlam. An NFT acts like a deed of ownership for a provably scarce digital item, and in Axie Infinity, NFTs represent one-of-a-kind cartoonish monsters, customizable land plots, and other items.

 NFT Revolution

Axie Infinity Has Sold $2 Billion Worth of Ethereum NFTs. Here's What’s Next

What’s the biggest NFT project to date? In terms of total trading volume, it’s not NBA Top Shot or CryptoPunks. No, it’s Axie Infinity—an Ethereum-based, Pokémon-inspired, monster-battling game that exploded in popularity this summer. Sky Mavis’ game surpassed the $2 billion mark in total transaction volume last week, according to data from DappRadar. Players are spending piles of ETH on cartoonish monsters, land plots, and other items in a game that now claims more than 1.8 million daily active...

Sky Mavis is working on a number of enhancements to Axie Infinity, including improvements to the battle system, land-based gameplay, and an expanded play-to-earn rewards system that’s planned to award billions of dollars’ worth of AXS to players