The Ronin blockchain, as the core infrastructure of the Axie Infinity gaming ecosystem, is set to undergo a significant change on May 12. The network will transform into the Ethereum Layer 2 network based on OP Stack technology with a hard fork. This pass is 55,577,490. It will be initiated at block height and will bring about a planned network shutdown that will last approximately 10 hours.
Planned network outage and user alerts
During the transition, all transfers, exchanges, smart contract interactions and on-chain gaming activities will be suspended on the Ronin network. Users must complete all pending transactions before starting. The Ronin team informed the community in advance to prevent possible disruptions.
There will be a planned outage of approximately 10 hours on the network during the upcoming Ronin Layer 2 transition. During this period, all network activity, including transfers, swaps and smart contract transactions, will stop.
Ronin was established as a separate sidechain in 2021 because Ethereum’s existing infrastructure could not handle the intense transaction load on Axie Infinity. However, in the past four years, there have been serious developments in the Ethereum network. Transaction fees have decreased and second layer solutions have matured.
Security and new integrations
Security played an important role in Ronin’s decision to move to Layer 2. In March 2022, $625 million was lost on the bridge as a result of the attack when the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group captured five validators. This incident was recorded as the largest cross-chain bridge attack to date in the world of decentralized finance. Another, smaller-scale attack occurred in August 2024.
By adopting OP Stack, Ronin will now directly benefit from the security of the Ethereum mainnet. Thus, it is aimed to prevent similar vulnerabilities from recurring. Additionally, by integrating EigenDA technology for data availability, scaling costs will decrease and high transaction capacity will be maintained in the network.
Radical changes in tokenomics
This transformation will also significantly change the economics of Ronin’s native token, RON. The annual inflation rate will be reduced from over 20% to below 1%. Approximately 90 million RON tokens will be transferred to a network-owned treasury instead of being used for validator rewards. Additionally, marketplace transaction fees on the platform will be reduced from 1.25 percent to 0.5 percent.
There is also a structural change in staking rewards. While the classic staking model, which automatically rewards passive validators, has been removed, with the new “Proof of Distribution” system, rewards will be given only to stakeholders who contribute to the network. This means strengthening incentives for developers and projects.
According to CryptAppsy data, RON is currently trading at around $0.11 and its market cap has reached $89.5 million. In the last 30 days, the price is up nearly 30%. With the transition, investors expect additional increases in prices due to more limited supply and the new reward model.
With Ronin moving to Layer 2, the number of networks such as Celo that give up their independent chain status and integrate into Ethereum’s security model will increase slightly. However, competition from alternative Layer 1 networks such as Solana continues unabated in the short term.
