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Binance’s new Launchpool project XAI: Layer 3, the most promising chain game on Arbitrum

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Arbitrum’s exploration in the direction of Layer 3

On January 3rd, Binance launched the 43rd project XAI on Launchpool, and opened up the BNB, FDUSD, and TUSD yield pools. Mining will begin on January 5th at 00:00 (UTC). XAI will be listed on Binance on January 9th, 2024 at 10:00 (UTC), and trading pairs including XAI/BTC, XAI/USDT, XAI/BNB, XAI/FDUSD, XAI/TUSD, and XAI/TRY will also be available at the same time.

Xai (XAI) is a blockchain network built on Arbitrum, customized for the needs of large-scale Web3 games, developed by Offchain Labs. As a network tailored for blockchain games, what are the unique features of Xai compared to other networks? How is the game ecosystem developing on it? BlockBeats will introduce in this article.

Xai's Technical Features: Layer3 Solution

XAI utilizes the Arbitrum Nitro technology stack and is an unpermissioned Orbit chain. The Orbit Chain is set to launch in June 2023 and will be built on top of the Arbitrum Layer2 as a Layer3 solution.

For the chain game team, the high gas fees on Ethereum are a problem that they have to consider, which has led to the emergence of Layer2 networks tailored for chain games such as Ronin and TreasureDAO. However, although these networks effectively reduce transaction costs in the game and improve player experience, they also face significant opportunity costs, namely losing the large and active ecosystems on networks with broad use cases.

Layer3 may be a promising solution. On June 22, 2023, Offchain Labs released tools for issuing the Arbitrum Orbit Chain. Orbit Chain is a Layer3 solution built on top of Arbitrum Layer2, which can choose to settle on one of the three Layer2 solutions, including Arbitrum One, Arbitrum Nova, and Arbitrum Goerli. Users can choose to use Rollup or Anytrust technology, with the difference being that Anytrust uses DAC instead of submitting transaction data to the chain, which is cheaper but less secure.

The advantage of Orbit Chain lies in its simple chain issuance process, interoperability with the Arbitrum ecosystem, Nitro's real-time updates, and Stylus's EVM+ compatibility (supporting Rust, C, C++ writing, running on the WASM virtual machine). Like all chains in the Arbitrum ecosystem, Arbitrum Rollups and Arbitrum Anytrust Orbit chains are built on Nitro as the underlying technology. Users can issue any Orbit Chain without customization, but must settle on the Arbitrum Layer2, otherwise they need to contact Offchain Labs or Arbitrum DAO for authorization.

Unlike most "self-managed" Orbit chains, Xai benefits from direct technical support from Offchain Labs. This support is not available to other chains, and Xai is considered an important part of the strategic gaming plan within the Arbitrum ecosystem.

XAI, esXAI and Token Economics

Xai has its own custom gas fee token "XAI", which will serve a dual purpose on the Xai blockchain. Firstly, it will act as the designated gas token, facilitating transactions within the network. Additionally, Xai tokens will be rewarded to validation nodes for their role in verifying transactions. Furthermore, Xai tokens will serve as the primary token within the gaming ecosystem, acting as a payment medium for games and in-game items.

Xai Network uses XAI and esXAI (hosted XAI) to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. XAI is fully transferable, while esXAI, which is obtained by exchanging XAI, is non-transferable. The main purpose of esXAI is to stake for various benefits, such as rewarding Sentry node operators and providing them with various perks.

esXAI's staking mechanism allows node operators to freely adjust their staked esXai between three different accounts:

Yield Account: Node operators who pledge esXai in this account can earn more esXai profits.

Culture Account: By pledging esXai, node operators can participate in exclusive activities and NFTs related to games launched on the Xai blockchain.

Governance Account: Node operators can obtain governance rights of DAO by pledging, including the right to propose the use of DAO/foundation funds.

Users can exchange between XAI and esXAI according to their needs. Different exchange directions have different rules. XAI can be exchanged for esXAI at any time without penalty or restriction. The conversion ratio is always 1:1 (100%). The process of converting esXAI to XAI includes an unlocking period, the duration of which is chosen by the user. The exchange rate will increase proportionally with the length of the exchange time. The Xai Foundation may reserve up to 50% of the potentially destroyed esXAI for the Xai Foundation to support the network. When esXAI is exchanged for XAI, all esXAI will be automatically allocated to the profit account, but only 50% of its value.

The maximum total supply of XAI and esXAI in the encryption industry is 2.5 billion tokens. The initial distribution of XAI is as follows:

Team: 20% of the total supply will be allocated to the core team and early contributors. This will begin unlocking 6 months after TGE. The allocation will unlock over a period of 36 months, totaling 42 months.

Investors: Early-stage investors purchased 22.41% of the total supply. This will begin unlocking 6 months after TGE. The distribution will unlock over a period of 24 months, totaling 30 months.

Ecological system: 2% of the total supply has been designated for market makers. This allocation will be unlocked immediately at TGE. 5.5% of the total supply has been designated for the ecological system. This allocation will begin unlocking 6 months after TGE and will be fully unlocked within 36 months. A total of 42 months.

Xai's Gaming Ecosystem

Xai focuses on reducing Gas costs, enhancing network stability, promoting creative game design, simplifying complex systems, and maximizing the potential of blockchain technology, while minimizing user wallet interactions. This not only makes blockchain games more accessible, but also provides developers with a platform to truly unleash their creativity.

Unlike some blockchain games that prioritize large quantities of low-quality games, Xai supports various game types and mechanisms. Xai encourages developers to focus on providing engaging experiences that attract players, rather than just token incentives. In addition, complex game and economic systems have been a common obstacle for blockchain games to attract potential users. The Xai Fund supports simplified game system settings to ensure that players can easily grasp the mechanisms and enjoy the game fun.

Regarding wallet experience, Xai has also collaborated with Thirdweb to seamlessly integrate wallet management into the backend of the gaming experience.

Currently, Xai has partnered with five game teams. Among them, Final Form is the first game developed by Ex Populus, which will be deployed on the Xai blockchain and released by the Xai Foundation. In "Final Form", players will participate in high-frequency deck building and automatic battles combined with Rogue-Lite mechanisms. Players will use free limited edition trading cards, temporary looter cards, mutants, and relics to build increasingly powerful battle decks. The best players will dominate the automatic battles and receive rewards, accelerating the evolution of their limited edition cards from common rarity to legendary rarity, and reducing global supply as they burn and evolve.