Crypto
Two Days After The Sandbox, Beam and Axie Infinity Got Their Turn
BEAMX rose 19.6% on October 4 on about 27 times its usual volume, its busiest day since May 2025, and AXS gained 13.4% to its highest close since May. SAND, the leader, barely moved.
On October 2 The Sandbox's SAND rose 53.5%, and in the same hour Decentraland, Gala and Axie Infinity tokens spiked with it. Gaming tokens, a sector left for dead after 2022, were suddenly the most active corner of the crypto market. On Sunday, October 4, the theme came back — but the leader sat it out. SAND closed up just 1.5%. Instead, the money moved to two names that had lagged.
Beam was the bigger mover. BEAMX, the token of a gaming-focused network formerly known as Merit Circle, drifted up through the early hours and then exploded in the 08:00 UTC hour, rising from $0.002406 to $0.00305 — a 27% move — on $5.6 million of volume, more than it typically trades in several days. It closed at $0.002555, up 19.6%, on $20.1 million of daily volume. That was roughly 27 times its 30-day average and the most since May 1, 2025. It was also its highest close since February 7.
Axie Infinity's AXS climbed in steadier steps. It rose through the Asian morning and reached $1.456 in the 07:00 UTC hour, 21% above the previous close, before easing back. It ended the day at $1.36, up 13.4%, on $16.9 million of volume — about seven times normal and its highest close since May 11. Measured from September 15, both tokens are now well up: about 66% for BEAMX and 50% for AXS, against roughly 128% for SAND and 14% for bitcoin.
Rotations like this are a recognisable stage in a sector rally: the first-moving token stalls, and buyers look for cheaper relatives that haven't run yet. They can extend a theme, but they also tend to come with less conviction, and the price action already shows it. BEAMX closed 16% below its intraday high, and by early October 5 both tokens had slipped further, BEAMX to around $0.00253 and AXS to about $1.30. For context, AXS remains more than 50% below its January 2026 high of $2.997, and BEAMX below where it ended 2025. Our guide to gaming tokens covers how the sector works and what tends to drive these waves.