Axie Infinity – Here’s what traders should bet on after AXS’s 39% hike

ambcryptoPublished on 2026-01-18Last updated on 2026-01-18

Abstract

Axie Infinity's native token (AXS) has surged 39% in 24 hours and 93% year-to-date, significantly outperforming other gaming tokens. Its trading volume spiked over 190% to $326 million, indicating strong market interest. Despite the bullish momentum, AXS remains within a long-term descending channel. A decisive breakout above the $1.50 resistance could trigger a 200% rally toward $4.70. However, failure to break out may lead to a continuation of the downtrend. Liquidity clusters are concentrated around $1.30-$1.60, acting as a price magnet. Recent tokenomics changes, including a 90% reduction in daily token emissions, may create a supply crunch. Increased demand is also evident as the community voted to stake 9 million ETH from its treasury, signaling strong long-term confidence. The key level to watch is $1.50 for a potential major breakout or rejection.

At the time of writing, Axie Infinity had outpaced its fellow gaming tokens with gains of 39% over the last 24 hours. In fact, the altcoin has seen over 50% gains this week alone, having appreciated by 93% since the year started.

During this rally, AXS had the highest trading volume in the sector after three consecutive days of $100 million. The daily trading volume spiked by more than 190%, climbing to $326 million according to CoinMarketCap.

This is evidence of AXS’s dominance over other gaming tokens. However, despite the altcoin’s bullish strength since the start of the year, it remains trapped within a massive downward channel. Hence, the question – Is a breakout on the way?

AXS eyes multi-month channel breakout

A look at AXS’s daily chart revealed that the altcoin was approaching the upper resistance of a multi-month descending channel. This downtrend saw AXS hit a four-year low in December, before bulls returned and ignited the ongoing price trajectory.

With the Web3 gaming sector back in the midst of traders, bulls could push the price past the descending trendline resistance. A break and hold above $1.50 could see it rally by more than 200% – To around $4.70.

Worth noting, however, that the market bears could also retaliate, preventing bulls from higher advances. If that happens, the anticipated trend reversal would be ruled out and possibly, the price would extend its current trend.

Price sandwiched between liquidity clusters

The liquidity clusters were concentrated above $1.30 to $1.60, as per data from CoinGlass. AXS’s price rallied as it absorbed liquidity that was sitting above it on the charts.

At press time, most of the clusters were concentrated above $1.50. However, there were some that semed to be forming below this level too. This suggested that both bulls and bears remain interested in the altcoin.

The altcoin’s sustained price spike was a result of a short squeeze that cleared sell orders that were forming above the price. That implited there may be a risk of a retracement that would trigger the orders sitting below $1.50. Especially since liquidity acts as a price magnet.

Is a supply crunch in sight?

Now, AXS has slashed its circulating token supply after disabling Smooth Love Potion (SLP) rewards in Origin mode. This has reduced the daily emissions by about 90%, heightening the chances of a supply crunch.

On the demand side, the community underlined its confidence in AXS after voting for its treasury to stake 9 million Ethereum (ETH). This can be interpreted as institutional-grade execution reinforcing the long-term vision of the gaming token.

If the token supply remains reduced and the community’s demand increases, genuine buyers could easily drive up the altcoin’s price.


Final Thoughts

  • AXS has rallied by 93% since the start of the year, outpacing all other Web3 gaming tokens.
  • Axie Infinity now faces a crucial test around the $1.50-level.

Related Reads

US Government Suddenly Halts Anthropic's Strongest Model, "Quasi-IPO Stock Price" Plunges 3.7% Overnight

U.S. Government Halts Anthropic's Top AI Models, 'Pre-IPO' Price Drops 3.7% On June 12, the U.S. government ordered Anthropic to shut down access to its two most powerful AI models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, citing national security concerns. The directive, issued by the Department of Commerce, required Anthropic to block access for all foreign nationals, leading the company to disable the models globally for all users. Anthropic strongly opposed the move, arguing the government's basis was a "narrow jailbreak vulnerability" and warning that applying such a standard industry-wide would effectively halt all frontier model deployments. The news impacted Anthropic's implied valuation in speculative markets. The Anthropic perpetual contract on Hyperliquid fell approximately 3.7% to around $1,627, down from highs above $1,800 following the models' release. Unauthorized tokenized products linked to Anthropic on Solana also saw significant declines. The models, launched just days earlier on June 9, represented a major capability leap for Anthropic. Fable 5 was its first public release of a "Mythos"-tier model above its flagship Claude Opus. The shutdown creates an ironic situation for Anthropic, a company founded on "AI safety" principles, and adds uncertainty to its ongoing IPO preparations. The company is actively engaging with regulators to resolve what it calls a "misunderstanding" and restore service.

marsbit16m ago

US Government Suddenly Halts Anthropic's Strongest Model, "Quasi-IPO Stock Price" Plunges 3.7% Overnight

marsbit16m ago

SpaceX IPO Creates Trillion-Dollar Billionaire: Musk's Wealth Equals Half of Crypto Market

SpaceX's record-breaking IPO has propelled Elon Musk to become the first modern billionaire with a personal net worth exceeding $1 trillion, reaching $1.11 trillion according to Bloomberg. This staggering wealth surpasses the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies excluding Bitcoin and equals roughly half of the entire crypto market's value. The milestone highlights extreme wealth concentration and the significant devaluation of the altcoin market, whose total cap has nearly halved since late 2025 as capital flows into large tech stocks. SpaceX's Nasdaq debut saw its valuation hit $2.2 trillion, with shares soaring from a $135 offer price to close at $161. Its first-day trading volume of $85 billion set a new global IPO record. Musk owns 42% of the company. Despite his wealth dwarfing the altcoin sector, Musk maintains deep ties to digital assets. He personally holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, while his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, collectively hold over 30,000 Bitcoin, ranking among the top corporate BTC holders globally. His acquisition and integration of financial data tools into X (formerly Twitter) further connect his ecosystem to the markets. Ultimately, Musk's trillion-dollar status underscores the immense wealth controlled by tech founders, though this fortune remains largely tied to volatile stock prices rather than liquid assets.

Foresight News23m ago

SpaceX IPO Creates Trillion-Dollar Billionaire: Musk's Wealth Equals Half of Crypto Market

Foresight News23m ago

Hardcore First Look | Ocean Embodied Intelligence Company 'Shihang Intelligence' Secures Record-Breaking 1 Billion in Funding, Zhu Xiaohu, Temasek Place Bets

Breaking News | Ocean Embodied Intelligence company "Shihang Intelligent" secures a record-breaking 1 billion RMB (approximately 10 billion yuan) in Series A financing, with investment from Zhu Xiaohu and Temasek. Author: Qiu Xiaofen | Editor: Yuan Silai Ocean Embodied Intelligence company "Shihang Intelligent" has completed its Series A funding round, raising over 1 billion RMB. This marks the largest single funding round in the global marine robotics field to date. Investors include upstream momentum funds from chip companies "Moore Thread" and "Kunlunxin," Singapore's state-owned investment platform Vertex Growth, and listed company Dyneo, among others. Existing investors like GSR Ventures (whose founder Zhu Xiaohu has invested for the fifth time), Vertex Ventures China, Hua Ying Capital, and Long Capital also significantly increased their investments. Founder and CEO Chen Xiaobo, a 1989-born alumnus of Harbin Engineering University, is a long-time expert in underwater robotics. He received the National Defense Science and Technology Progress Award at age 28 (the youngest recipient) and led the development of China's first commercial underwater cleaning robot. The funds will be used for core technology R&D, global market expansion, and building the industry chain ecosystem to scale the application of marine robots in complex underwater scenarios. The ocean is considered one of the most challenging environments for robotics due to low light, high turbidity, complex currents, limited communication, high pressure, and corrosion. "Shihang Intelligent" focuses on developing core underlying technologies for marine robots, covering six key systems: power, control, sensing, navigation, sealing, and deployment. Its robots are capable of operating at depths from 0 to 10,000 meters with full degrees of freedom, performing complex maneuvers, autonomous navigation, and multi-robot collaboration. Applications include ship cleaning, underwater security, offshore wind power, marine ranching, and seabed inspection. The company's order value for the first half of 2026 alone has exceeded 1 billion RMB. Its "Orca Robot" is used by major shipping companies and has performed maintenance on over a thousand large vessels. In April of this year, the company launched its ocean embodied large model "Cangqiong CEORION." Unlike traditional remote-controlled or pre-programmed robots, this model integrates environmental perception, task understanding, and action generation into a single end-to-end architecture. Trained on millions of hours of commercial operation data and simulation data, it covers 12 major underwater operation scenarios. In simulations, it achieved over 90% task success rate and over 70% zero-shot adaptation capability to unseen environments. A built-in physics reasoning module reduces collision risk by 80%, enabling autonomous operation even with weak or no communication. Recently, "Shihang Intelligent" was selected as a core technology partner for Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority national hull inspection and cleaning program. These advancements indicate marine robotics is moving from pilot projects to scaled applications, with real-world operations generating valuable data to continuously improve robot capabilities. CEO Chen Xiaobo stated the company will continue investing in core marine robotics technology, the embodied intelligence model, and global application scenarios to expand into more high-risk, high-difficulty, and high-value underwater operations.

marsbit49m ago

Hardcore First Look | Ocean Embodied Intelligence Company 'Shihang Intelligence' Secures Record-Breaking 1 Billion in Funding, Zhu Xiaohu, Temasek Place Bets

marsbit49m ago

Three Months, 35 Billion Yuan: Investors Rush to Grab the OpenAI of the Physical World

Investors flock to a physical AI startup as the race for the "OpenAI of the physical world" heats up. Ji Jia Shi Jie (GigaWorld), a company dedicated to developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) for the physical world, has raised 3.5 billion RMB (approximately $490 million) in just three months, according to a report from investment media outlet Touzijie. The latest B2 funding round of 1 billion RMB attracted a wide range of top-tier investors, including sovereign wealth funds, industrial capital, and financial institutions. This brings the total funding for the young company, now valued over 10 billion RMB, to 3.5 billion RMB across three recent rounds. The company is led by Huang Guan, a post-90s Tsinghua University PhD with extensive experience in AI, autonomous driving, and entrepreneurship. Its core innovation is a "dual-pyramid" system comprising a five-layer data pyramid (from internet videos to real-world robot data) and a three-layer algorithm pyramid focused on world simulation, action alignment, and reinforcement learning. This system underpins its key models: the "World Action Model" (e.g., GigaBrain series for robot control) and the "World Generation Model" (e.g., GigaWorld series for simulating and understanding the physical world). Its models have reportedly achieved top rankings in global robotics benchmarks. Ji Jia Shi Jie argues that while current digital AGI excels in information processing, the next frontier is physical AGI—systems that can understand and interact with the real world. The company believes the field is approaching its "GPT-3 moment," a key inflection point in capability scaling. To achieve this, the company is pursuing a dual-market strategy. For the consumer (C) market, it launched the "SeeLight" brand and its S1 general-purpose humanoid robot, which has secured initial orders for deployment in real homes. For the business (B) market, it focuses on industrial automation with its Maker series robots, having signed agreements for large-scale deployment in factories, and its DriveDreamer world model for autonomous driving, which is already in use with over 30 automakers and tech companies. The report concludes that by bridging the gap between digital intelligence and physical action, Ji Jia Shi Jie aims to unlock a new wave of productivity, ultimately bringing physical AGI into everyday life.

marsbit1h ago

Three Months, 35 Billion Yuan: Investors Rush to Grab the OpenAI of the Physical World

marsbit1h ago

What's the Connection Between Pinduoduo's Huang Zheng and Blockchain?

This text explores the unexpected connection between Pinduoduo founder Colin Huang and blockchain, as suggested in his article *Turning Capitalism Upside Down*. Huang argues Pinduoduo's core business is about managing "uncertainty." He posits that wealth flows to the rich because they absorb life's uncertainties (e.g., illness, job loss) that devastate the poor, who pay a premium for certainty through insurance or stable prices. Pinduoduo's model attempts a "reverse insurance": by aggregating consumer demand via group-buying and flash sales, it creates a large, predictable order for manufacturers. This certainty allows factories to remove risk premiums, passing savings back as lower prices, thus partially reversing the wealth flow. The key obstacle, Huang notes, is that an individual's buying intent is an unreliable promise. He then asks if blockchain is the natural solution for this "reverse insurance." The text elaborates that blockchain, through smart contracts with binding deposits, could transform casual intent into a costly-to-break, enforceable commitment. This replaces interpersonal trust with coded rules, making promises credible, pricable, and resistant to fraud. Finally, the author draws a parallel to Bitcoin, framing two paths to creating certainty: the "Pinduoduo path" of aggregating decentralized will into scale, and the "Bitcoin path" of locking rules into immutable code. Both sacrifice something—personal freedom or system flexibility—to manufacture trust and predictability.

链捕手2h ago

What's the Connection Between Pinduoduo's Huang Zheng and Blockchain?

链捕手2h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures
活动图片