Philippines central bank warns public against play-to-earn games

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has urged the public to remain cautious when dealing with play-to-earn games, especially those involving digital tokens. BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno emphasised the risks associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), such as price volatility, which may result in significant financial losses, and also other types of risks related to cyber fraud and scams. The warning came after hackers have reportedly stolen cryptocurrency worth almost USD615m from Ronin, a blockchain network that lets Axie Infinity users transfer crypto in and out of the game. Axie Infinity has 2.8 million daily active players, with some USD3.6bn previously traded on its marketplace. Vietnamese startup Sky Mavis, which created the game, has previously said that about 35% of the game’s traffic comes from the Philippines.