Share this article
Philippines Looks to Tax Hit Blockchain Game Axie Infinity: Report
The country is the video game's leading market.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:44 p.m. Published Aug 25, 2021, 9:18 a.m.
Storms are gathering around hit crypto game Axie Infinity as regulators in its prime market, the Philippines, expressed their intention to tax its players and publisher.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
- Income from play-to-earn crypto games such as Axie Infinity should be taxed, the Manila Bulletin reported Monday, citing Undersecretary of Finance Antonette C. Tionko.
- Tionko said that whether Axie Infinity tokens are assets or securities is being discussed by the country's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and central bank.
- The undersecretary also said that although the game's Vietnamese creator, Sky Mavis, is not registered in the Philippines, it must pay taxes in the country for any revenue created through local sources.
- The SEC reiterated that the game and its publisher are not registered in the Philippines, and that Sky Mavis doesn't have a license to sell securities, the Manila Bulletin said yesterday.
- In response to the regulators' statements, Sky Mavis co-Founder and COO Aleksander Leonard Larsen told CoinDesk in a message on Thursday that "Axie Infinity does not sell SLP or provide liquidity on the market," and that the tokens are only earned by playing the game or acquired from other players.
- Inspired by Pokémon, Axie Infinity has players battle using NFT anime monsters, called Axies. When they win, the earn SLP tokens, which they can then exchange for fiat currency. Players can also sell their Axies on NFT marketplaces.
- Some people "set up scholarships, or companies, then they hire other players to work for them," Larsen said.
- Globally, it counts almost half a million daily active users, and more than 60% of them are in the Philippines, Leah Callon-Butler, director of consulting firm Emfarsis, wrote in a CoinDesk column in July.
- The price of the Axie Infinity token, AXS, has surged from around $5 at the end of July to over $70 at the time of writing.
UPDATE (7:30 UTC, Aug. 26, 2021): Adds details about Axie Infinity play-to-earn model, quotes from Sky Mavis.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
