Ronin is an EVM blockchain crafted for developers building games with player-owned economies. It was founded in February 2021 by Sky Mavis, the creator of Axie Infinity. Ronin blockchain is powered by RON. Ronin aims to address key issues like Ethereum's high gas fees and slow transaction speeds in gaming experiences.^[1]

History

Ronin was founded in February 2021 by Sky Mavis, amongst which its co-founders include COO Aleksander Larsen. Ronin is backed by Sky Mavis, who offers advisory support and grants to help reduce risk and improve odds of success for games looking to launch.

Ronin Network established itself as a key player in the Web3 gaming domain with its ability to process up to 100,000 transactions per second. It uses a Delegated Proof of Stake instead of a Proof of Authority, giving it an advantage over traditional blockchains to ensure both speed and security.^[2]

Ronin now has over 200,000 daily active addresses according to their blog. They saw a 16x growth in a year, since January 1st, 2023.^[14]

Ronin Token

Launched in January 2022, RON is the native token of the Ronin Blockchain. A key component of the ecosystem developed by Sky Mavis for Axie Infinity.^[2] It has enhanced Ronin sidechain's functionality in facilitating low-cost, efficient token swaps via the decentralized exchange Katana.

As of the end of 2023, their market cap has surged past 500M, representing over 12x growth since their 40M cap in early 2023.^[14]

Token Allocation

During the launch there were three ways to acquire RON: earning rewards from the Katana DEX, buying from the secondary market, or receiving a shareholder allocation. There were no discounted RON as part of funding rounds.

The quantity of RON reserved for various network functions, as a percentage of the total existing token supply, follows this distribution:^[6]

• Rewards: 25%
• Community incentives: 30%
• Sky Mavis: 30%
• Ecosystem fund: 15%

There is a difference between unlocked supply (found in the public unlock schedule) and circulating supply (tokens that are issued out into circulation). Unlocked tokens may not be immediately circulated into the market and it usually depends on a program budget that is planned in advance.

• Circulating supply increases in the event that tokens are distributed from the original allocations or staking contracts as rewards to users and other parties.
• It may also decrease in the case where RON is bought back from the market and placed into the treasury.
• Circulating supply will never be higher than the unlocked supply.
• Circulating supply of RON can be queried at the supply API endpoint.

Staking

With Ronin's switch to a Delegated Proof-of-Stake network in March 2023, RON's utility extended to staking. Users can now stake RON with network validators to earn rewards, increasing its versatility within the Ronin ecosystem. Most users require RON to pay for transactions on the network.^[7]

Proof of Authority (PoA)

Ronin initially employed the Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus algorithm, in which designated validators oversee the network and authenticate transactions. These validators, selected based on their expertise and reputation by Sky Mavis and the community, play a crucial role in generating new blocks and incorporating them into the blockchain.

One notable advantage of PoA is its lower energy consumption compared to other consensus mechanisms like Proof of Work (PoW), as it doesn't involve intricate calculations to validate transactions. This results in faster transaction speeds and reduced transaction fees, given the quicker validation of blocks.

However, PoA has faced criticism for its perceived lack of decentralization compared to alternative consensus mechanisms. Its reliance on a group of trusted validators implies a high level of trust in these entities. This concentration of trust introduces a potential vulnerability, particularly if validators were to engage in malicious activities. As such, they have transitioned into using the Delegated Proof-of-Stake system instead.^[8]

Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS)

To enhance Ronin's decentralization, Sky Mavis introduced an update that incorporated Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) into the process of selecting validators. Now, anyone holding a sufficient amount of RON can become a validator, thereby widening access and significantly improving the decentralization of Ronin. Importantly, they continue to enjoy the advantages of Proof-of-Authority, such as quicker transaction speeds and reduced transaction fees.

DPoS functions as a consensus mechanism where token holders delegate their stakes to chosen validators. These validators, responsible for verifying transactions, generating new blocks, and earning rewards, can be selected by token holders who can either vote for themselves or delegate their stake to a representative. The likelihood of a validator being chosen increases with the amount of tokens they receive. Rewards for block production are distributed among both validators and delegators who have delegated their stake to the validators.

Additionally, since RON staking is a prerequisite for validators, they have implemented slashing rules to penalize validators engaging in malicious behavior. This slashing mechanism serves as a deterrent, discouraging improper actions by penalizing validators who fail to produce new blocks or attempt to manipulate the system.^[9]

Partnerships and Collaborations

Games on Ronin

Various gaming platforms and companies have chosen to build on Ronin. This includes Directive Games, Tribes Studio, Bali Games, Bowled.io, SkyVu, and MetaLand.

"It was essential for us to partner with a platform and team who understood how to make games and know the unique challenges game studios face. It was clear to us that gaming was in Ronin's DNA and that we were aligned with the approach to community and how things should benefit the ecosystem and their players." - Atli Mar Sveinsson, CEO at Directive Games^[10]

Many games are built on Ronin Network. A few of the standout games as listed by DappRadar include:^[13]

• Axie Infinity: A leading game on Ronin, Axie Infinity allows players to breed, raise, and battle fantasy creatures called Axies. This title pioneered the Play-to-Earn model in 2021 and is still one of the most popular web3 games worldwide.
• Pixels: After continuous updates and migrating from Polygon in 2023, Pixels has grown in popularity on Ronin with its engaging pixel art and strategic gameplay.
• The Machines Arena: Still under development with community participation, The Machines Arena is a cross-platform, team-based shooter offering fast-paced battles.
• Battle Bears Heroes: Upcoming top-down shooter game with a strong community following. Some game modes include Death Match and Battle Royale.

Binance Pay x Ronin

Binance Pay is a payment technology built by Binance. It allows the users to access the funds they have on Binance and use them outside of Binance. Through this partnership, the Deposit from Binance feature is incorporated into the Ronin wallet app. Users can conveniently make deposits from the Binance app without the need to manually scan or copy wallet addresses, for a nominal fixed fee. Furthermore, the auto-conversion feature facilitates the conversion of assets from Binance to Ronin, allowing users to convert ETH on Binance into SLP on Ronin. Notably, Binance Pay now supports several Ronin assets, including AXS, SLP, and USDC.^[16]

Pyth Network

Pyth Network publishes price feeds for blockchain assets amongst other functions. As a blockchain oracle for market date, with their partnership, users will now be able to see real-time updates of asset prices on Ronin. They will be providing the market data for DeFi projects and Ronin Name Service (RNS) for Ronin.^[17]

Ronin Name Service (RNS)

An RNS is a distributed naming system based on the Ronin blockchain that lets one assign a human readable .ron domain name to one's long Ronin address. RNS is integrated with Ronin Wallet, Ronin Explorer, MAvis MArket, App.Axie, and the Sky Mavis Account Service. An RNS name can be secured with a Ronin wallet funded with RON.
You can use an RNS as follows:

• As a gamertag across the Ronin ecosystem
• Send and transfer digital assets
• Trade as NFTs on Mavis Market
• Special collection names are available for purchase at RNS auctions
• As gifts to your friends and family to start their Web3 journey

RNS Types

There are four types of domain names in RNS.

• Regular names: These unregistered domain names, available on a first-come, first-served basis, come with an annual renewal fee.
• Auctioned names: These highly sought-after RNS names are distributed through auctions where the highest bidder wins.
• Protected names: Names reserved for Sky Mavis's official partners and other brands and businesses.
• Blacklisted names: Names with negative connotations, sensitive themes, or deceptive potential that aren't available for registration.^[15]

Domain price​

The price of an RNS domain name depends on the following factors:

• Renewal fee: A fee charged for the registration duration, in years. This is a fixed fee based on the length of the domain name, applying only to regular names. For protected names, Sky Mavis sets the amount individually for each registrant.
• Additional fees applied to auctioned domains:
  • Domain price: Set by the market during the auction. The first participant makes a starting bid, then someone else makes a higher bid, and so on. After the auction period, trading (buying or selling) the auctioned domain in the Mavis Market may affect its domain price.
  • Reservation fee: 15% of the auctioned domain's price. This fee applies only to auctioned names and is charged when you renew the domain name after it expires.^[15]

Domain Tiers

RNS employs a system of domain tiers to signify the rarity and worth of domain names, determined by factors such as their character composition and market value. The tier of a domain is discernible through its color card, which may be gold, blue, or green. This tier classification is applicable to all RNS names, excluding protected names specifically reserved for brands and businesses. Notably, protected names possess a distinct color card—purple—while their prices are established by Sky Mavis.

Regular names follow a numbered tier value. RNS with a value above $200 is in Tier 1, those between $50 to $200 in Tier two, and the rest in Tier 3.^[15]

Outages and Attacks

The Ronin Validator Breach

In March 2022, Ronin Network was breached, where 173,600 ETH and 25.5 million USDC, worth $625 million, were drained from the Ronin Bridge. It was engineered by a group of hackers. While the Ronin sidechain has nine validators requiring five signatures for withdrawals and is meant to protect against these types of attacks, the attacker found a backdoor through the gas-free RPC node, which they abused to get the signature for the Axie DAO validator. ^[11]

After the breach, Sky Mavis has implemented internal security measures to prevent future attacks. All code has been fully reviewed and optimized, with security experts auditing the entire architecture.

@SkyMavisHQ tech is solid and we will be adding several new validators to @Ronin_Network shortly to further decentralize the network. We are committed to ensuring that all of the drained funds are recovered or reimbursed, and we are continuing conversations with our stakeholders to determine the best course of action. -Aleksander Larsen, COO of Sky Mavis^[12]