Xai (XAI): A Decentralized Future for In-Game Trading

In mid-January, a new blockchain gaming cryptocurrency, XAI, experienced a 150% price jump. While some observers attributed this mainly to the token’s $140 million initial airdrop, others speculated that at least some portion of XAI’s impressive run was due to the similarity in name to Elon Musk’s AI-focused xAI startup. Apparently, some people erroneously thought that the crypto token was related to that venture.

XAI, the native token of the Xai Layer 3 decentralized gaming platform, might share only a name with the much-publicized xAI startup. However, its potential impact on the gaming and blockchain industries could turn out to be as revolutionary as Musk’s anticipated influence on the AI sector.

While gaming has been among the fastest-growing areas in the world of blockchain, factors such as transaction cost, technological instability, and potential lack of familiarity with crypto on the part of users have slowed the adoption of blockchain-based games. Xai aims to solve these problems — and to make blockchain gaming and in-game asset trading much more accessible to billions of gamers worldwide.

Key Takeaways:

• Xai is a decentralized platform designed to offer a blockchain gaming experience to traditional video game users, who are often unfamiliar with concepts such as crypto wallets and gas fees.

• Xai is a Layer 3 platform built on top of Arbitrum’s Layer 2 rollup protocol, which services Ethereum’s Layer 1 blockchain.

• To enhance the security and decentralization of its operations, Xai uses a network of special nodes called Sentry Nodes to monitor and check the validity of the block generation process on the platform.

What Is Xai?

Xai (XAI) is a decentralized platform that offers a low-cost, scalable and user-friendly environment to attract traditional gamers to blockchain gaming. One of the platform’s key goals is to provide crypto gaming and in-game asset trade opportunities without using crypto wallets. This should ease the transition for traditional (non-blockchain) gamers into the blockchain world.

Xai was developed by Offchain Labs, the company behind the massively popular Arbitrum (ARB) Layer 2 rollup platform servicing the Ethereum (ETH) chain. Xai is based on Arbitrum Orbit — a key component in the stack of Arbitrum technology solutions. While Arbitrum is a Layer 2 protocol, Xai is a Layer 3 platform that extends Arbitrum’s functionality to offer gaming-focused features, such as gasless transactions, wallet-free asset trading and increased smart contract limits for developers.

Thus, Xai’s network acts as a third layer that connects to Arbitrum’s Layer 2, which in turn is linked to Ethereum’s Layer 1 blockchain. While the arrival of Arbitrum and similar Layer 2 solutions have helped slash the costs and increased the speed of transacting on Ethereum, Xai takes these improvements to an entirely new level by offering stellar scalability, minimal fees and gasless, walletless interactions — in addition to explicitly gaming-focused features.

The problems with attracting a multibillion-strong army of gamers to blockchain platforms have long been recognized in the gaming industry. Currently, there are over 3 billion video and digital game users, but only a tiny fraction of them engage in blockchain-based gaming. The complexity of blockchain use has often been cited as the key barrier to entry into the world of decentralized gaming. Additionally, the poor stability and/or scalability of many blockchain platforms can deprive users of a truly fun gaming experience. Offchain Labs recognized the presence of these obstacles — and aims to tackle them head-on with the launch of Xai.

What Are Xai Sentry Nodes?

Xai employs a unique approach to improving its security and decentralization. To achieve these goals, the platform uses Sentry Nodes, a vital part of the Xai community. These nodes monitor and verify the correctness of the block generation activity on the network.

Any network user can install and run a Sentry Node on their laptop or desktop, or even in their cloud environment. Sentry Node operators receive network rewards for keeping the platform secure. These rewards are paid out in esXAI, one of Xai’s native crypto tokens, which can also be staked to increase an operator’s reward yield.

Game Building on Xai Blockchain

Xai offers developers an environment for creating games that incorporates minimal explicit blockchain features, while still harnessing blockchain technology’s benefits. For example, crypto wallets are integrated into the backend to make the gaming experience as seamless as possible for traditional gamers. In addition, gasless transactions smooth the transition to blockchain gaming, since gamers outside of blockchain environments typically aren’t used to paying fees for common transactions within their games.

Xai is a new platform and currently features just five games. However, this total is likely to grow as developers realize the benefits of offering blockchain games without a significant learning curve for users. The quintet of games available or being actively developed on Xai includes:

1. Final Form: In this card-collector game, your task revolves around building a powerful deck of cards in order to engage in battles with other players. You can collect different categories of cards such as relics and summoned companions, and various limited edition types. The rewards from battles you win can help you evolve your cards into more powerful variations.

2. LAMOverse: If you love chaos, LAMOverse might just be the game you’ve been waiting for. This is a shooter game where players battle hard against each other, traveling in their hover cars in a chaotic and destructive environment.

3. Carnivale: Carnivale is a futuristic open-world game where the control and influence of information determine who wins and loses.

4. Tarochi: Engage in epic battles against monstrous creatures as you traverse the expansive game world in this RPG adventure.

5. Kashi: Enter the origami-themed realm of Kashi, another captivating RPG in Xai’s collection. Your mission involves solving diverse puzzles while navigating through a multidimensional world.

Xai Crypto Tokens

The XAI Layer 3 blockchain platform’s two native tokens, XAI and esXAI, power its functionality.

XAI

XAI is the platform’s main token and is used for network fee and in-game payments. It’s a fully transferable token that can be freely traded on the market and used as a value transfer and storage asset. The token’s maximum supply is 2.5 billion, while its total and circulating supply figures currently stand at 984 million and 277 million, respectively.

Launched in early January 2024, XAI has the following initial supply allocation shares:

esXAI

esXAI is used to reward Sentry Nodes for their work in securing the network. Node operators can also use their esXAI for staking to access more network rewards and benefits. Staking esXAI provides three main benefits to Sentry Node operators:

1. Increase in the yield rates generated from esXAI
2. Access to special events and NFTs within games on Xai’s platform
3. Governance voting rights through the platform’s Xai Foundation and/or DAO

Unlike the XAI token, esXAI isn’t transferable, and can only be used by the operator who originally earned it.

XAI Crypto Price Prediction

As of Jan 26, 2024, the XAI token is trading at $0.74, which is 38.9% lower than its all-time high price of $1.21, recorded on Jan 17, 2024, and 62.4% higher than its all-time low of $0.455, registered on Jan 10, 2024.

The long-term outlook for XAI is generally bullish, with DigitalCoinPrice predicting it will trade at $1.85 in 2025 and $5.37 in 2030. Meanwhile, CoinCodex expects the token to climb to $1.05 in 2025 and $3.42 in 2030.

Is the XAI Token a Good Investment?

The XAI token is currently in its early days on the market, but has already attracted significant investor interest as evidenced by its impressive 153% price spike between Jan 10–18, 2024. Although XAI is now off its highs achieved in mid-January, it still generates significant attention among crypto investors on the lookout for promising new tokens. The main reasons you might consider investing in XAI include the following:

1. Xai’s platform is the first major undertaking to provide a smooth transition for traditional game users into the world of blockchain gaming. With more than 3 billion gamers in its potential target audience, Xai has a great chance of achieving outsized market success.

2. Xai was developed and is actively supported by Offchain Labs, a key player in the blockchain industry. With a promising business model targeting the vast army of gamers, Xai will be high on Offchain Labs’ agenda. Expect its dedication to Xai to be no less serious than its commitment to Arbitrum — and Arbitrum’s popularity clearly demonstrates that the team at Offchain Labs knows how to support and nurture a product to achieve significant market success.

Where to Buy XAI

You can buy XAI on Bybit both as a Spot pair (XAI/USDT) and via the XAI/USDT Perpetual contract. If you don’t have an account on Bybit, you can easily register for one and trade hundreds of cryptocurrencies in the Spot and/or Derivatives markets.

Closing Thoughts

Blockchain-based gaming opens up opportunities for users in areas such as NFTs, in-game asset trading, play-to-earn (P2E) and more. However, despite all of these attractive features, the industry has yet to see a decisive shift in gamers’ preferences from traditional video gaming platforms toward blockchain alternatives. The primary reason for this deficit is the lack of familiarity with concepts such as cryptocurrency, NFTs and crypto wallets. In particular, the need to conduct transactions using crypto wallets is a challenging one for blockchain novices.

Xai’s Layer 3 platform is the first project that aims to address these challenges. Its unique features — such as seamless wallet interaction, gasless transactions and enhanced scalability — have the potential to create a significant disruption in the gaming industry. 

The platform that offers us the benefits of blockchain gaming without the need to know much about crypto transactions has finally arrived. Xai will now attempt the boldest change in the history of gaming ever — enticing billions of traditional gamers to embrace blockchain. If Offchain Labs succeeds even partially in this endeavor, we might soon be talking about Xai as one of the world’s major gaming platforms.

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