- The PNP ACG has issued a warning about the potential risks of the project.
- Police say P2E gaming poses even more dangers than direct investment in cryptocurrency.
- According to media reports, 40% of Axie Infinity players are Filipinos. Many of them lost all their savings when the project was hacked in 2022.
The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG) has issued a new warning to citizens.
It points out that P2E games, including Axie Infinity, can be even riskier than direct cryptocurrency investments.
“Despite its advantages, blockchain games have certain drawbacks. This is, for example, the threshold of entry.
Specifically, Axie Infinity requires players to have three Axies to access gameplay,” the police noted, “This means you must invest at least $300 before you can earn.”
The PNP ACG emphasized that players are at risk of losing tokens and funds.
And given that operators of P2E projects are not required to comply with AML requirements, this threat is even more serious compared to direct investments in cryptocurrency, the report said.
“The fact that the blockchain gaming mechanism is safe does not mean that the user will be protected from volatility in the market,” the group emphasized.
The agency gave several recommendations to minimize possible risks to the user:
- Before investing, one should thoroughly research the project;
- don’t click on suspicious links;
- cryptocurrency transactions should be conducted on regulated platforms.
The Axie Infinity hack and the loss of Filipinos
In March 2022, the project came under attack. Attackers gained access to the Ronin Bridge by taking advantage of an employee’s mistake. The damage amounted to about $625 million.
In July of that year, Time published an extensive article about how hundreds of Filipinos lost their life savings due to this hack.
According to the publication, this country accounts for 40 percent of all players in the project.
Only a small portion of the stolen funds have been recovered. North Korea’s Lazarus Group is believed to be behind the hacking of the project.