Five and a Half Years: A Chain Still Alive at the Margins

XAI closed today at $0.006809, still only a step from the all-time low set two days ago. The narrator had been keeping this chronicle since 2021, for five and a half years. Yesterday’s “So people are still here” from a former member prompted a pause to ask what those years had actually contained.

In 2021 and 2022, a small game studio made games through the bull market. In the downturn, unable to find a chain that suited its games, it decided to build one. Offchain Labs joined in 2023; the project used the Arbitrum stack, was announced in June, and launched its mainnet that year. Its vision of a “decentralized game console” once gleamed. In early 2024 came a prominent Binance Launchpool debut, an airdrop whose paper value reached USD 140 million within a week, and a $1.60 peak that fed dreams of a valuation in the billions of dollars. From 2024-03 through 2025, there was no single collapse or disappearance. Unlocks, emissions, delays, and a fading sector instead wore away 99% over roughly two and a half years. The flagship game publicly separated from the chain, leaving it as an invisible backend; the 10·10 price spike and liquidation stripped away another layer of hope. Then 2026 brought a false rebound in January, a sharp fall in February, four months in a range, a break lower in June, and July’s $0.006651. The fourth emissions halving, the end of the heaviest unlock, and the all-time low drew little response.

The review left an unflattering picture. The chain still produced blocks, Sentry operators still protected the network, Raijin had real users, and holder addresses were still increasing. The lawsuit continued, Final Form had yet to launch, and the price remained near the floor. Asked whether he would keep writing, the narrator answered, “Yes.” Five and a half years had taught him that survival need not look good; XAI, at least, was still breathing. He did not know what the next chapter would hold, nor could daily blocks prove a revival. If the Night Watchman’s laptop was still lit tomorrow, he would keep recording what he saw.