A Crypto Game Promised to Lift Filipinos Out of Poverty. Here's What Happened Instead

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.