Ronin, the gaming blockchain developed by Sky Mavis, the creators of Axie Infinity, has successfully maintained the momentum of its token (RON) rally despite facing initial challenges during its listing on Binance, a popular cryptocurrency exchange.
On February 5, the price of Ronin tokens experienced significant volatility, dropping by over 40% to $2.52 after a 28% increase the previous week. As of the time of writing, RON is currently trading at $2.63.
Prior to the listing, a combination of token accumulation detected on a blockchain scanner and leaked external communications from Binance resulted in insiders accumulating RON tokens, which they promptly sold after the token was listed, causing its price to decline.
The day after this incident, Yi He, the co-founder of Binance and spouse of former CEO Changpeng Zhao, announced that the exchange would implement stricter internal controls to separate the listing team from the project research teams in order to prevent information leaks. He stated that if any project listing information is leaked, the listing would be canceled, and if any information is leaked after the announcement, the pending listing would be extended, and the listing decision would be based on subsequent adjustments.
In an email to Cointelegraph, Aleksander Larsen, the co-founder of Sky Mavis, stated that Ronin has become one of the most widely used gaming chains and that the listing on Binance was highly anticipated. The project aims to onboard 16 partner studios and games by 2024. Larsen explained, “We plan to end the year by opening up the Ronin network for anyone to deploy their games on it. Games that gain traction will be integrated into the Mavis Hub, our platform for game curation, similar to Steam.”
Despite the recovery of its token price from a low of $0.45 in October 2023, the total value locked (TVL) on Ronin has been slow to grow. In March 2022, North Korean hackers exploited the Ronin Bridge and stole $600 million. Coupled with the overall decline in cryptocurrency prices that year, Ronin’s TVL dropped from nearly $1.5 billion at the start of 2022 to less than $50 million by the end of the year. Currently, the TVL stands at $156 million, with the Katana decentralized exchange contributing over 99% of the locked funds.
Larsen emphasized that as a gaming-focused blockchain, Ronin’s priority is not to compete with DeFi chains for TVL. He stated, “Katana, the native DEX on Ronin Network, should offer sufficient liquidity for day-to-day trading between players, and $RON serves as LP rewards, ensuring this.” He further stated that since the 2022 heist, Ronin has implemented significant security measures, including a thorough code review, optimization, and audits by security experts. Additionally, a circuit breaker system has been introduced to limit daily withdrawals, and the bridge smart contract has been updated to allow validators to set withdrawal limits. Larsen expressed confidence that Ronin has been battle-tested. Although some of the stolen funds have been recovered, the majority remain missing.
In related news, Binance has recently offered a $5 million reward for information related to the listing of RON tokens, which has sparked a heated debate within the crypto community.