2024-12-25T11:48:50+0800

Samerson Orias was earning about 4,000 pesos a month (about $80, a little less than half the national minimum wage in the Philippines) making takoyaki—Japanese octopus balls. His friend told him he and others were pocketing up to $600 a month playing Axie Infinity, a game fueled by cryptocurrency and NFTs. Orias, now 26, desperately needed an escape hatch from his financial woes: his mother had had a stroke and required medication, and electricity and grocery bills were stacking up. So he plunged into Axie, doing battle with cartoon monsters for hours deep into the night. Read more about Axie Infinity in the Philippines: https://ti.me/3zxWQf6 Subscribe to TIME’s YouTube channel ►► http://ti.me/subscribe-time Subscribe to TIME: https://ti.me/3yJj5Nw Get the day’s top headlines to your inbox, curated by TIME editors: http://ti.me/the-brief Follow us: Twitter: https://ti.me/3P5N5Kl Facebook: https://ti.me/3yBoPIP Instagram: https://ti.me/3P7bMpA