What is Ronin (RON)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Ronin was created in 2021 by Sky Mavis to address the scalability demands of Axie Infinity, which strained Ethereum’s capacity. Its core mission is to onboard millions into crypto via gaming, offering:
- Low fees: $0.0001 average transaction cost (Sky Mavis)
- High throughput: 1M+ transactions per day during peak gaming seasons
- Frictionless onboarding: Sponsored transactions let developers cover user gas fees

2. Technology & Architecture

Initially an Ethereum sidechain, Ronin is migrating to an Ethereum L2 using Optimism’s OP Stack by 2026. Key upgrades include:
- EVM compatibility: Supports Ethereum tools like MetaMask
- ZK security: Plans to integrate zero-knowledge proofs via EigenDA for data availability
- 12x faster transactions: Target block time of 100–200 milliseconds

3. Ecosystem Fundamentals

Ronin hosts:
- Gaming: Axie Infinity, Ragnarok Landverse, and Pixels (4.9M+ daily active wallets)
- DeFi: Uniswap v3 deployment (RFC proposal)
- Payments: PHPC stablecoin integration with 600K+ Philippine merchants via QRPH

Conclusion

Ronin is transitioning from a gaming-centric chain to a multi-utility Ethereum L2, blending play-to-earn mechanics with real-world financial use cases. As it finalizes its L2 migration, will its focus on gamified experiences and emerging markets drive mainstream adoption beyond speculative trading?