Ronin's Strategic Shift to Ethereum Layer-2
At the 2025 YGG Play Summit in Manila, Sky Mavis co-founder Jeffrey “Jihoz” Zirlin joined George Bracher from GAM3S.GG for a live fireside chat on the future of crypto gaming. The discussion centered on Ronin’s recent move to Ethereum Layer-2 and whether the gaming-first blockchain could play a Nintendo-like role in the Web3 ecosystem.
Ronin was the fourth most-used blockchain of 2024 by transaction volume, ahead of many general-purpose chains. Jihoz attributed that to a focus on high-performing games like Axie Infinity and Pixels. “Gaming is a hits-driven business,” he said. “The games pick the chain. When they win, the whole ecosystem lifts.”
Ronin is transitioning from a standalone chain to an Ethereum L2 through the OP Stack, the same technology powering Base and other Optimism Superchain networks. Jihoz said the shift allows Ronin to outsource network security to Ethereum and redirect internal resources toward developers. “We’ve been relying on suboptimal models to reward builders,” he said. “Now we can focus on incentivizing the people building on top of Ronin.”
Proof of Distribution: Incentivizing Builders and Developers
That incentive layer is powered by Proof of Distribution, a system that reallocates staking rewards from passive validators to active builders. Games that generate activity, volume, and revenue can earn additional support for user acquisition and development. “It removes the need for Sky Mavis to pick winners,” Jihoz said. “It lets the system double down on what’s already working.”
Jihoz pointed to games like Pixels, which continues to iterate on its earning model, and Cambria, which introduced risk-to-earn mechanics. He described these experiments as examples of innovation happening inside the Ronin ecosystem.
Reaching Mainstream Audiences Beyond Crypto
On the question of how Ronin plans to reach players outside of crypto, Jihoz said the network has already done so. “Axie didn’t grow because of Twitter,” he said. “We were massive on Facebook and TikTok. Axie Infinity had over 2 billion TikTok views in 2021 and 2022.”
Ronin is also experimenting with new formats. Jihoz said Counter-Strike items tokenized on Ronin can now be deposited on Steam. “We need to make the benefits obvious. If users see the value, they’ll try it,” he said. “Play-to-earn was never about crypto. It was always about the benefit.”
Introducing QRPh Payments for Real-World Utility
In the final minutes of the panel, Jihoz shared a detail that hadn’t been made public before. He confirmed that Ronin Wallet will soon support payments through QRPh, the Philippines’ national QR code payment standard.
QRPh stands for QR Philippines and is based on the global EMV standard. It’s widely used for merchant payments at retail stores, restaurants, and service providers. With this integration, Ronin users will be able to spend directly from their wallet at local businesses that accept QRPh.
“We’ve figured out a system that allows Ronin Wallet to integrate with QRPh,” Jihoz said. “Users will be able to use Ronin in real-world payments at merchants in the Philippines.”
The move signals a shift toward broader use cases for crypto wallets in regions where digital payments are already part of everyday life. For Ronin, it may also mark the start of a deeper push into mainstream utility beyond gaming.