What is Immutable (IMX)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Immutable solves Ethereum’s scalability issues for NFTs and gaming, where high gas fees and slow speeds hinder user experience. By acting as a layer-2 solution, it allows developers to build games with NFT economies that offer:
- Zero gas fees for minting/trading assets.
- 9,000 transactions per second (vs. Ethereum’s ~30 TPS).
- Carbon-neutral transactions, appealing to eco-conscious users.

Notably, it hosts titles like Guild of Guardians and supports Ubisoft’s blockchain games, bridging Web2 and Web3 gaming (Immutable Blog).

2. Technology & Architecture

Immutable combines ZK-STARK proofs (for transaction batching) with a custom zkEVM rollup, merging Ethereum compatibility with scalability. Key features:
- Immutable Passport: Non-custodial wallet for seamless user onboarding.
- Global order book: Shares NFT liquidity across marketplaces (e.g., GameStop, Rarible).
- SDK/APIs: Simplifies integration for developers, reducing blockchain complexity.

In May 2025, it merged Immutable X and zkEVM into a unified “Immutable Chain” to streamline operations (Messari Report).

3. Tokenomics & Ecosystem

The IMX token (max supply: 2 billion) powers:
- Governance: Voting on protocol upgrades and grants.
- Staking: 20% of protocol fees (2% per trade) reward stakers every 14 days.
- Ecosystem growth: 51.74% of tokens fund developer grants and user rewards.

Over 660 games are built on Immutable, including AAA studios, with 5.6 million registered users as of June 2025 (CoinMarketCap).

Conclusion

Immutable is a specialized Ethereum scaling solution redefining NFT infrastructure for gaming, combining speed, affordability, and developer tools. Its growing partnerships and tokenomics incentivize ecosystem participation. Can it become the default backbone for mainstream blockchain gaming adoption?