Habbo Collectibles and the switch to zkEVM
We first talked about the switch from the current Immutable X network to Immutable zkEVM back in April this year. This switch should make Collectibles smoother to use and open the door for some really cool upgrades and quality of life improvements in the future, including a Collectibles website revamp 👀
The switch also means a significant change related to day to day usage of your Habbo Collectibles is incoming, which means you’ll pay a small “gas” fee to do some things with them.
🪙 zkEVM gas fees
After the move to zkEVM is complete, when you craft or recycle Collectibles and when you open Gift Boxes, you’ll pay a tiny gas fee in IMX tokens (about 0.002 IMX = ~$0.0015 per transaction based on prices in late September, when this article was written).
Eventually, creating, or minting new Collectibles will also require you to spend IMX tokens to cover the gas fees.
We know this isn’t the most exciting update for our collectors, and ideally things would stay just as they are. That said, these fees are what keep the new network running smoothly and securely. Because it’s built on a different blockchain to Immutable X (the one Habbo Collectibles currently uses), this change is part of making sure everything works properly long-term. While it’s a shift, it also means we’re building on a stronger foundation for the future of Habbo Collectibles.
The benefits of the zkEVM switch
With that covered, here are some of the concrete benefits we’ll gain from switching to zkEVM:
⚡ Improved crafting & recycling
zkEVM lets us use smart contracts, so instead of paying fees for every single Collectible you burn or recycle, you’ll be able to do a lot of similar things in one neat transaction and only pay once.
📡 Better network stability
One of the main challenges we’ve faced with Immutable X is network stability. The old chain often caused collectors to experience timeouts when minting or recycling Collectibles, along with other reliability issues. We expect zkEVM to deliver a more stable and reliable experience.
🔄 Automatic migration
As a collector, you don’t need to do anything as part of this switch: Your MetaMask wallet stays the same and your Collectibles will be moved automatically.
All NFT marketplace listings will be cancelled during the switch. The assets on the old IMX chain will become untradable and obsolete. After the switch, you will need to list your items again on TokenTrove if you want to sell them.
🔃 Save your IMX tokens!
You should do the following before the switch:
- Open any gift boxes you want to open.
- Craft items you’ve been saving up for (especially multi-step recipes from your Clothing Factories).
- Recycle items you’ve been meaning to clear out.
ℹ️ FAQs
Why can’t we just remain with the current Immutable X solution?
Immutable X is being shut down and all assets are moved to Immutable zkEVM, so we don’t have the option to remain with the current set up – we had to find an alternative. Immutable zkEVM was by far the most sensible choice for us and our user base. All other options would require a more arduous process of moving assets across the chains that would end up costing even more both for you and us.
Are there other platforms and chains you could explore that don’t require its users to pay gas fees?
Our team has already looked at a variety of different options, but decided that moving to zkEVM was the most cost effective, sustainable, and efficient option. As far as we know, there are no established and cost effective chains that are gasless.
How can I get IMX tokens?
You can find a detailed, useful guide on how to acquire IMX tokens here.
Immutable mention gas sponsorship on their website – is this something the Habbo team or Immutable themselves might do for Habbo Collectibles?
Right now we haven’t had any clarity from the Immutable team about this, and we don’t have concrete plans to sponsor the new zkEVM gas fees ourselves. IMX offers gas sponsorship when the assets are in their IMX Passport wallet solution. We reviewed the IMX Passport wallet solution when we were looking for in-game wallets, but unfortunately it doesn’t support the same authentication methods that Habbo uses. However, if there is enough demand to enable Passport wallets on collectibles.habbo.com, we may add that as a wallet option there at some point in the future.
How will this affect your partnership with Stardust? With this new setup, will you be able to remove Silver fees when trading Collectibles in-game?
It may be that we need to search for a brand new wallet to replace Stardust and become the new Collector Wallet solution for in-game trading, purchasing of Collectibles, etc. We cannot yet say which wallet we’d use, however. Silver is likely still going to be required to cover the costs related to any new provider we use, but again that’s very much TBC.
What happens to my NFT Marketplace listings on, for example, TokenTrove?
All NFT marketplace listings will be cancelled during the switch, then relaunched once we’re live on zkEVM.
When is this happening?
The switch is scheduled to take place before the end of 2025, but it could happen later on. We can’t yet provide concrete timelines.