Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain best known for powering Axie Infinity, plans to migrate back to Ethereum, this time as a layer-2 network.
Originally launched as a standalone chain in 2021 to solve Ethereum’s high fees and slow speeds, Ronin says the landscape has changed. With Ethereum scaling solutions now making transactions cheaper and faster, and with Wall Street warming up to Ether, the team sees a new opening. “Things are different now. Ethereum is back… we are early to a new era of growth, and Ronin is ready to rise,” the team wrote, setting Q2 2026 as the migration target.
The shift also reflects Ethereum’s growing institutional pull. Marketing efforts like Etherealize, launched with Ethereum Foundation support to pitch ETH to Wall Street, have helped attract traditional capital. Ether treasury companies — publicly traded firms holding ETH on their balance sheets – reinforce this narrative, presenting ETH as both a tech growth play and a yield-bearing asset through staking.
Ronin’s move underscores how Ethereum is positioning itself as the backbone of global finance – spanning DeFi, tokenized real-world assets, and stablecoin settlement. And with the new GENIUS bill banning yield-bearing stablecoins in the US, analysts expect even more capital to flow into Ethereum DeFi.
Ronin leaving its layer-1 independence for Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem is less about survival, and more about aligning with the chain that institutions are betting will be the future financial base layer.
