Monat: November 2024

• Sky Mavis lays off 50 employees to streamline operations for future growth.
• Layoffs are a strategic move, not due to financial instability or poor performance.
• Axie Infinity’s token AXS dropped by 3.78% after the news but later recovered.

Sky Mavis, the developer behind the popular blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, has announced the layoff of 21% of its workforce, translating to approximately 50 employees.

This decision is part of the company’s broader efforts to streamline its operations and focus on its core products.

Layoff isn’t a result of financial instability

Co-founder and CEO Nguyen Thanh Trung took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that the layoffs were a strategic move aimed at positioning the company for future growth. He emphasized that the decision was not a result of financial instability, but rather a realignment of resources to better align with the company’s long-term vision.

Trung noted that the layoffs were not a reflection of the employees’ contributions to Sky Mavis, but were instead necessary to ensure the company’s agility as it focuses on key initiatives for 2025 and beyond.

“The decision to part ways with talented team members was not made lightly,” Trung said. He explained that the move would help the company concentrate on important projects, including the upcoming launch of the Ronin blockchain in Q1 2025, and expansion efforts for the Ronin Wallet and Ronin Network.

Sky Mavis aims to remain focused on the blockchain gaming space, doubling down on what makes the company “truly exceptional” rather than diversifying into new areas.

Sky Mavis’ restructuring efforts come after a tumultuous period, including a devastating hack in 2022 that resulted in a $600 million loss. This led the company to shift from its original play-to-earn model to a free-to-play structure.

Despite these challenges, Sky Mavis is maintaining its commitment to the Web3 ecosystem, continuing to develop Axie Infinity and other products within the Ronin network.

Following the announcement, the price of Axie Infinity’s native token, AXS, saw a notable decline of 3.78% to $7.18 but it has since recovered and climbed to $8.17 at press time.

This news reflects the growing pressure on blockchain gaming companies to adapt to the evolving market while ensuring financial sustainability and product relevance.

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• Mastercard and JP Morgan are collaborating to enhance B2B cross-border payments by providing faster settlement and more transparency.
• Mastercard’s multi-token network will integrate with JP Morgan’s Kinexys Digital Payments (formerly called Onyx) to power cross-border payments.

Mastercard and JP Morgan are collaborating to provide faster, more transparent cross-border payments to their customers. The service is powered by integrating Mastercard’s multi-token network (MTN) and JP Morgan’s recently rebranded digital payments network, Kinexys (formerly Onyx).

In a statement, the Executive Vice President, Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard, Raj Dhamodharan, said, “By bringing together the power and connectivity of Mastercard’s MTN with Kinexys Digital Payments, we are unlocking greater speed and settlement capabilities for the entire value chain. We are excited about this integration and the new use cases it will bring to life, leveraging the strengths and innovations of both organizations.”

A wider push for tokenisation

Mastercard’s multi-token network is a blockchain-based network for tokenised bank deposits, stablecoins, and CBDCs. The global payments company piloted the network in June 2023 by inviting UK banks to test tokenised deposits.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan’s Kinexys is a payment platform that allows for tokenising real-world assets, facilitates digital payments, and enables cross-border payments.

The rise of these networks and platforms from both major financial companies is emblematic of a wider industrial push for blockchain-based financial systems with multi-asset support, fast transaction speeds and settlement times, and strong compliance and AML capabilities.

With Mastercard’s MTN, banks can access 24/7 real-time interbank settlement powered by Mastercard’s private blockchain network. Other market players can also simplify processes like buying carbon credits and unifying financial and compliance standards.

The network also settles transactions on public blockchains, private bank payment networks, and legacy settlement infrastructure.

Mastercard and JP Morgan are not the only institutions building towards a tokenised on-chain future. Chainlink, a leading blockchain oracle provider, launched CCIP, the cross-chain interoperability protocol in July 2023 to connect private and public blockchains, and invited financial institutions like HSBC and the SWIFT network to participate in successful pilots.

Meanwhile, the Kinexys digital payments network has processed more than $1.5 trillion in transactions since its pilot in 2020 and currently processes more than $2 billion in daily transactions.

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