Immutable X - The Layer-2 Scaling Solution for NFT Ecosystem

• Immutable X is a Layer-2 scaling solution designed for NFT Ecosystem, based on StarkWare's technology

• Immutable team is formerly Fuel Games, the development studio of the collectible card game Gods Unchained, with a team size of about 100 people

• Immutable has received funding from leading investors such as Nirvana Capital, Coinbase Venture, Galaxy Digital, Alameda Research and Animoca Brands

• Several anticipated high-quality games are scheduled to go live on Immutable X in the first half of 2022

Introduction

Immutable X is an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution built for the NFT market using Validium and ZK-Rollup developed by StarkWare. The Immutable team, formerly Fuel Games, is the development studio for the collectible NFT card game Gods Unchained. The game launched on Ethereum in 2018, and had become the highest gas-consumed DApp in three weeks. But the game started to lose active users 1 month after its launch. Immutable team soon realized that the high gas fee and low transaction speed of the Ethereum seriously affected the NFT transaction experience and further slowed down the development of the NFT ecosystem. So Immutable team started to find a solution to the NFT transaction experience problem. One solution at the time was to use a sidechain with a different consensus mechanism than Ethereum, but this would sacrifice the security and decentralization of NFT assets. So the Immutable team came up with Immutable X, a Layer-2 scaling solution built specifically for the NFT ecosystem.

Technically, Immutable X worked with the StarkWare team to develop Volition, an optional scaling system that allows NFT developers to choose whether to use ZK-Rollup, which is more secure but more costly, or Validium, which is less secure but negligible in cost.

Source: Immutable X

ZK-Rollup is a Rollup scaling solution that has been developed to a mature extent, i.e., by packaging multiple transactions on Layer-2 into one transaction recorded in an Ethereum block. transaction is true. ZK, Zero-Knowledge Proof, guarantees the accuracy of a transaction by attaching a certificate of authenticity to each transaction, which does not contain any transaction information, but only proves that the transaction is genuine. (Not well understood, in other words: proving that a math problem has a solution without solving it.)

However, ZK-Rollup requires a proof of authenticity for each transaction, though cheap enough for multiple transactions to be packaged, but the gas cost of minting NFT assets is still very high for a slightly larger-size game. According to an article written by Immutable X CTO Alex Connolly, for a game like Gods Unchained, minting 7 million NFTs using ZK-Rollup would cost about 7 billion gas, which equals to a total of 1,400ETH at a gas level of 200gwei.

Therefore, Immutable X integrates Validium. Validium is also based on Zero-Knowledge Proofs, but transactions are recorded directly in the Ethereum block after packaging, while the proof of authenticity is stored and kept off-chain. To ensure data availability, Immutable X also has a Data Availability Committee that regularly posts transaction data and proofs of authenticity to IPFS (decentralized storage system).

With the gradual development of the ecosystem, the average daily trading volume and TVL of Immutable X are $0.8m and $113m respectively as of January 9, 2022.

Ecosystem

• Gods Unchained, a PC-based collectible card game, went live on the Ethereum mainnet in 2018 and officially migrated to Immutable X in June 2021. In September of the same year, the game launched its native token, GODS, and a Play-to-Earn event.
• Illuvium, the PC-based self-propelled open-world RPG, is expected to be delayed from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022. Its two co-founders, Kieran Warwick and Aaron Warwick, are brothers with Synthetix founder Kain Warwick. The game entered into a strategic partnership with YGG in March 2021. According to the September asset report, YGG invested in $3.5m worth of Illuvium in-game NFT assets.
• The mobile multiplayer online dungeon adventure ARPG, Guild of Guardians, is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2022. More than 130,000 players have already pre-registered. The game entered into a strategic partnership with YGG in June 2021. According to the September asset report, YGG invested in $0.1m worth of in-game NFT assets for Guild of Guardians.
• OpenSea, Ethereum's largest NFT trading marketplace, announced plans to integrate Immutable X in March 2021. No further news is available.
• The PC-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) RPG, Ember Sword, originally planned to be built on the Ethereum sidechain Polygon, announced in November that it would be migrating to Immutable X. The game had opened applications for in-game land NFT sales in July and is known for ultimately receiving more than 35,000 applications worth $203 million. According to September's asset finance report, YGG invested in $50k worth of in-game NFT assets for Ember Sword.
• In March 2021, OpenSea, Ethereum's largest NFT trading marketplace, announced plans to integrate Immutable X. There is no further news.
• In April, ECOMI (now known as VeVe), a digital collectibles marketplace with over 300,000 NFT collectors, announced a partnership with Immutable X and gradual migration to Immutable X. In December of the same year, ECOMI announced that it had completed the recasting of all NFT assets on Immutable X, bringing the overall migration to its final stage.
• In October, TikTok, the short video social software, launched its first short video series NFT, TikTok Top Moments, in collaboration with Immutable X.
• In the same month, top esports organization ESL announced a partnership with Immutable X to distribute NFTs for the ESL Pro Championship CS: GO program. ESL first attempted the NFT at the Intel Masters Cologne in June, releasing an officially licensed NFT of the CS: GO project on OpenSea.

Token Economic

• Token: IMX
• Total Supply: 2,000,000,000

• Uses.

1. 20% of the transaction fees on Immutable X must be paid by IMX. If the user does not hold IMX, Immutable will exchange the token used for the transaction (e.g. ETH) for IMX in the secondary market and pay for it.
2. stake to obtain the transaction fee in 1.
3. decentralized governance

• Distribution & Vesting Plan:

• The Immutable team has raised a total of 3 rounds of private funding.

• The Immutable team conducted 2 rounds of public offerings for the native token IMX.

Token Information: Immutable X (IMX)