Maker, the team behind the Ethereum community’s star Dai stablecoin, announced on Monday a partnership with blockchain gaming company Axie Infinity. The collaboration will see Dai integrated as an in-game currency in the Axie economy.

The tokenized game is focused around Axies, digital pets that players can “breed, raise, battle, and collect,” the Maker team explained. Users can use cryptocurrency wallets like Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, and Enjin Wallet to purchase, store, and exchange their game pieces.

As part of the team up, Axie will offer owners of Maker collateralized debt positions (CDPs) special Axie tokens that can be claimed in the game depending on the size of these CDPs. For example, one of those tokens will be a “Mystic” piece for players with CDPs that have drawn more than 15,000 Dai in their positions’ lifespans.

Maker has partnered with @AxieInfinity to bring #Dai into their game! Players that have opened a CDP will be able to claim unique Dai-themed NFTs that have in-game benefits:https://t.co/SaeFN2s82H $Dai #gaming — Maker (@MakerDAO) June 10, 2019

The creators of the dual-token DAI-MKR ecosystem also confirmed they would be seeding prize money into Axie, with 1,000 Dai being set aside for the best trainers in the game’s first season and another 1,000 being put up for the game’s first tournament prize pool.

The Maker team noted in their announcement how the gaming and eSports arena was set to grow considerably in the years ahead and how its stakeholders were committed to positioning Dai to become a growing pillar of that sector:

“These are the early days of blockchain gaming, and the Maker Foundation sees Dai becoming a critical component as that industry grows. Gaming is a great way to introduce new audiences to Dai through unique integrations. Many people acquire their first cryptocurrency in order to start playing blockchain games, after all. As gamers quickly recognize the benefits of Dai, they will find more excitement not just in playing games, but also in exploring a whole new ecosystem.”

As for winning over new audiences, news also broke on Monday that U.S. cryptocurrency exchange powerhouse Coinbase had added Dai as the first stablecoin to its Coinbase Earn educational platform.

As part of that mesh, accepted Coinbase users can now take a series of beginner lessons to earn small sums of Dai. The campaign will presumably bring in a modest influx of new users for Maker’s stablecoin.

Activity Around Dai Continues to Grow

It seems the Dai is on a definite uptrend.

For example, according to Maker’s latest Momentum Report, Dai adoption has increased approximately 20 percent per month in recent times. Moreover, nearly 1.5 billion Dai were transacted altogether last month, a new milestone for the project.

That report found that decentralized trading was still the largest source of Dai activity, accounting for approximately 70 percent of present Dai volume. But Dai-based decentralized finance (DeFi) is on the up-and-up, too, the Maker team highlighted:

“An interesting trend is the increasing use of Dai in decentralized lending, where the likes of Nuo, dYdX, Compound, and Dharma account for 13% of Dai activity. It’s impressive how quickly Nuo and dYdX have gained adoption following their recent launches.”

Last month, the outstanding volume of crypto-collateralized loans crossed the $100 million mark for the first time among the top Dai-compatible DeFi apps — Maker, Compound, Dharma, and dYdX. At the time, more than $430 million worth of ether (ETH) was locked up in Maker CDPs.

In that light, Dai’s days at the center of DeFi may just be beginning, especially if CDPs and other financial dapps continue to grow in popularity.

The activity comes as the Maker community has grappled with fixing the Dai’s peg to $1 USD in recent months, as the stablecoin’s price had slid under that position for several weeks earlier this year. However, those efforts seemed to have acutely worked, as the Dai has been trading at its intended price for almost one month straight now.