Axie Infinity AXS rises 42% despite imminent token unlock

Axie Infinity’s AXS token continued its impressive price action, rising 42% over the last 24 hours to $13.06, according to CryptoSlate data.

The positive price performance is coming ahead of an imminent token unlock that would release 4.89 million new tokens — 1.8% of the asset’s 270 million total supply — worth roughly $63.8 million, according to Token Unlocks.

Selling pressure ahead?

AXS is one of the best-performing digital assets in the current market rally. Since the beginning of 2023, the play-to-earn (P2E) token has risen by roughly 80% — outperforming flagship digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

However, with new tokens set to be unlocked later today, market analysts fear that this could give rise to selling pressure on the asset.

Several market analysts advised their community to trade cautiously, while some argued that the unlock provides a short opportunity.

The managing partner at Hartmann Capital, Felix Hartmann, said:

“Historically teams have saved up announcements for unlocks. I think market has become so reflexive that people buy in anticipation of unlock news. Funding rate is at around +0.03% meaning starting to see an imbalance with more longs than shorts.”

Axie Infinity player count drops to new low

Axie Infinity’s average player numbers have dropped to a November 2020 low, according to Active Player data.

The P2E game had around 100,000 live players and 432,000 over the past month. This is a steep decline from the over 2 million players it recorded between September 2021 and May 2022.

At the time, Axie’s popularity soared as players could earn a living through the game. However, players started deserting it when their earning potential became limited — this state was further exacerbated when it suffered a hack in March 2022.