The Ronin L2 network successfully completed its migration to Ethereum's OP Stack on May 12 at block 55,577,490, ending a four-year journey as an independent EVM sidechain. According to reports from CoinDesk, the transition required approximately 10 hours of network downtime during which no user or player action was required. Sky Mavis co-founder Jihoz framed the move as a homecoming, laying out the timeline in a thread posted hours before the fork. The migration was supported by major partners including Optimism, Conduit, Boundless, and EigenLayer, with EigenDA handling off-chain data availability while Ethereum provides settlement and finality services. Any nodes running older software were cut off once the new chain activated, ensuring a clean transition to the upgraded network.
The hard fork implementation brings significant changes to RON token economics, with inflation dropping from over 20% annually to below 1% under a new Proof of Distribution model. As reported by CoinDesk, the model redirects 90 million RON tokens previously earmarked for passive staking toward the Ronin treasury. Additionally, marketplace fees increased from 0.5% to 1.25%, with sequencer profits from the Layer 2 now flowing into the treasury. The treasury will also capture net sequencer profits, giving the protocol a sustainable revenue model for the first time. The centrepiece of the new economy is Proof of Distribution, a mechanism that rewards projects based on network activity rather than passive staking. Projects must register to start earning RON, with the system designed to be transparent and publicly show which teams are performing without Sky Mavis having to curate winners.
The migration addresses structural vulnerabilities that made Ronin susceptible to the $625 million Lazarus Group bridge exploit in March 2022, which remains the largest DeFi bridge hack in history. Operating as an independent sidechain with only nine validators created a centralized security model that Ethereum Layer 2 settlement directly resolves by inheriting the base chain's security. The broader context shows Ronin joining Celo and Fraxtal in the expanding OP Stack ecosystem, signalling that purpose-built chains are increasingly choosing to operate under Ethereum's umbrella rather than going it alone. Jihoz expressed confidence about the future, stating "I expect all key metrics across the chain to start to improve. You get what you incentivise."
The upgraded network now integrates with Ethereum's broader DeFi ecosystem, with Ronin planning to deploy Uniswap v3 as its canonical DEX post-migration. The platform is backed by a $1.5 million liquidity incentive program to bootstrap DeFi activity on the upgraded network. All games on the network, including Axie Infinity, Fishing Frenzy, Fableborne, and Pixels, suspended on-chain activity during the downtime and resumed immediately upon completion, ensuring minimal disruption to gaming operations. The network's new bRON and bAXS Apptokens are designed to create a self-sustaining flywheel where contribution is measurable and rewarded accordingly, with the ambition to attract builders needed to fill the chain with activity.
