In the evolving world of blockchain and NFTs, few voices have the experience that Jeffrey Zirlin brings. As the co-founder of Ronin and Axie Infinity, Zirlin, known to the community as Jihoz, has helped shape the narrative around blockchain gaming since its earliest days.

In this conversation with OpenSea, Zirlin reflects on his journey from a childhood collector inspired by his father's passion for insects and fossils to a trailblazer in the blockchain gaming space. He shares insights on the development of Ronin, a blockchain specifically designed for gaming, and offers his perspective on the future of NFTs. What emerges is someone committed to the fusion of gaming and collecting, two passions that have defined his personal interests and professional trajectory.

‍Note: This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

OpenSea: You've been building in this space since before most people even knew what an NFT was. What initially brought you in, and what’s kept you involved through all the ups and downs?

Jeffrey Zirlin: Personally, I’ve believed in crypto since discovering it around 2011, but I wasn't interested in using it or building in the space until I found NFTs. I grew up as a gamer and a collector. My dad collects insects and fossils, and that’s how I related to him as a kid. I was always trying to find the rarest butterfly or fossil to impress him.

When I found NFTs through CryptoKitties—where I also met Devin and a lot of the early OpenSea team—it was a light bulb moment. I realized crypto could be used for more than making money or hedging against inflation. If it got me this engaged, I figured it could do the same for others. There are far more people passionate about gaming and collectibles than there are people obsessed with finance or inflation.

OpenSea: That makes a lot of sense. It's also interesting that you came in with a collector's mindset. I think a lot of people with a background in gaming or collecting found their way into web3. I always think of Vitalik’s origin story—losing everything in World of Warcraft and deciding that no one should have to go through that again. Looking back at those early Axie days, could you see where the space was heading, or has it all been a surprise?

Jeffrey Zirlin: A lot of the folks who were crazy enough to dedicate themselves to NFTs early on believed they could become something huge. We all saw the potential. Even now, with NFTs out of the spotlight, we still believe that. But yeah, you have to be a little delusional as a founder. Back then, it felt like either this would be a niche thing for hobbyists or it would blow up.

In Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, he talks about how big companies often start with niche, hobbyist markets. That thinking resonated. A lot of us were gamers—Runescape, World of Warcraft—trying to trade digital items through sketchy third-party sites. I didn’t realize until later, but people like Marc Andreessen have pointed out that the existence of eBay’s trust scores showed a fundamental flaw in the internet. We didn’t have the infrastructure to transact directly without a trusted middle layer. NFTs felt like the solution to that.

OpenSea: That’s a fascinating parallel. You’ve worn a lot of hats—community builder, strategist, game designer. Which role feels most authentic to you right now?

Jeffrey Zirlin: At my core, I see myself as a gamer and a collector. That’s how I introduce myself. It’s the foundation of everything I’ve done in this space. Ronin is a chain built for gamers, and we attract people who care about games and ownership.

When I was a kid, I’d somehow get the entire school to play whatever game I was playing. So doing growth for a gaming ecosystem like this feels like second nature—it’s a reflection of my childhood self. That’s why I think of it as my ikigai. My identity and my work are completely aligned when I’m building communities around games.

OpenSea: Let's talk a bit about Ronin. Broadly speaking, what makes Ronin unique as an L1? And how do you define a “Ronin-native” game?

Jeffrey Zirlin: Ronin was the first chain where the go-to-market strategy centered around a single application—it was built specifically for Axie Infinity. So, from the start, it was designed with gaming in mind. That gave it a strong foundation: a chain for gamers and game developers. Of course, there are other apps on it now, like Katana and REX, and a growing DeFi ecosystem.

But those are additive. If you’re going to have a gaming chain, you need infrastructure like a DEX to support it. What really sets Ronin apart is our community—seven years strong, with 17 million wallet downloads and 1.5 million monthly active users. This is a chain full of gamers who know how to use web3 and genuinely love games.

That community is why developers migrate to Ronin. Pixels went from 5,000 DAU to 1.4 million. Forgotten Runiverse 15x’d their users. Fableborne jumped from 103 testers in Season 2 to 150,000 in Season 3. Cambria tripled player spend after migrating. These teams are seeing real traction because they’re tapping into a real, active community of web3-native gamers.

OpenSea: You pretty much answered my next question, which was about Ronin’s relationship to Axie. It’s always been tightly coupled, but how do you balance that legacy as you push to become a broader, game-agnostic L1?

Jeffrey Zirlin: Axie and Ronin are like Mario and Nintendo. Early on, they were almost synonymous. Most people who played Nintendo games played Mario, but over time, other IPs came in, and the platform expanded. I believe Axie will always be our flagship IP and continue to grow alongside new communities and titles.

We’re seeing that already with the OpenSea integration. When people think about Ronin, they think of Axie—and suddenly, we’re seeing Axie volume skyrocket. It’s now clearly the number one gaming NFT by volume over the past week or so. I also think the bar is rising in terms of the quality needed to succeed in web3 gaming, which is a good thing.

OpenSea: What do you think the “mainstream moment” for blockchain gaming will look like?

Jeffrey Zirlin: It’s always hard to pinpoint when something transitions from subculture to mainstream. It’s often a bittersweet process. You lose some of that frontier energy, and things get watered down. Think about folk music—Bob Dylan helped popularize it, but not everyone liked what came after.

We already saw a taste of the mainstream in 2021. In the Philippines, Axie went viral. Some of the country’s biggest streamers were playing it, forming guilds, even influencing local politics. There’s a story about a congressman visiting a rural area. He saw a kid sitting in a tree, asked why he was up there, and the kid said, “I’m playing Axie Infinity. I need better internet.” That’s when you know it’s real—when everyday people are using it and it becomes part of the culture.

I think the next wave of adoption will feel like a chemical reaction. Slow, then all at once. It’ll come from the right game, the right economic system, and a passionate community. What happened in the Philippines might be a sneak preview of what broader adoption could look like.

OpenSea: Is there a moment where you’ll know for sure that blockchain gaming has gone fully mainstream? Like, someone playing Axie who would make you stop and say, “Okay, we’ve made it.”

Jeffrey Zirlin: Honestly, I think one of the biggest signs was when every gamer suddenly had an opinion on crypto. For a while, no one cared. Then all of a sudden, they were angry about it. There were Vice documentaries, backlash, debates. That kind of resistance is actually a sign that we were breaking through.

And sure, I think we’ll see more creators and influencers start to embrace it, like we did in the Philippines. But I also think about collectors. Who brought collecting into the mainstream? Honestly, shows like Pawn Stars. If we can get Chumlee and Rick involved, that might be another pivotal moment.

OpenSea: In five years, do you think players will even know—or care—that they’re interacting with a blockchain?

Jeffrey Zirlin: People don’t think much about internet infrastructure, but blockchains are a little different. In gaming, it’s more like platforms—Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation. Gamers have strong preferences.

And they care because they own part of it. Even if two chains were identical, if they had different tokens, people would still care. But they aren’t identical. The differences matter.

OpenSea: As someone who helped define “play-to-earn,” how do you think about that narrative today?

Jeffrey Zirlin: When I first got into crypto, I thought mining was interesting, but I didn’t know how to set one up. I wanted a way to participate directly—to generate value, not just buy it. When I bred two CryptoKitties and sold the offspring, it clicked. That felt like mining to me.

With Axie, we thought, how do we make that kind of participation more accessible? Can we reward people for spending time, applying skills, and contributing to the ecosystem? That’s what play-to-earn originally meant—proof-of-work applied to gaming.

Of course, Bitcoin miners get rewarded because they secure the network. With games, the idea is similar. If no one plays your game, it dies. So, if you can reward early players, that gives your game a chance to grow. Tokens can help bootstrap that flywheel of activity, community, and fun.

OpenSea: That makes a lot of sense. Is there anything else you’d like to leave readers with about Axie or the future of Ronin?

Jeffrey Zirlin: I think the crypto space is in a bit of a reckoning right now. People are searching for meaning again. The meme coin cycle was fun for a minute, but I’m seeing more people returning to what made this space special in the first place.

Everyone says web3 gaming and NFTs are dead, but the data says otherwise. There are more people using Ronin today than there were at Axie’s peak. We should celebrate that. And I’m seeing people have fun again—especially since meme season has cooled down.

With OpenSea and Ronin working together, maybe this is the start of something new. Maybe we’ll see both platforms rise together from this moment.

OpenSea: That’s really exciting. Thank you so much for your time. This was a fantastic conversation. 

Jeffrey Zirlin: Great to meet you.