Luis Buenaventura highlights YGG’s attempt to boost local Web3 ecosystem on CoinGeek Backstage

Axie Infinity, to this day, remains a great platform for users and avid gamers to interact, earn, and simply enjoy the realm of gaming, but for some, like Yield Guild Games (YGG), the play-to-earn game served as a bridge that would help countries like the Philippines take advantage of the opportunities within Web3.

Speaking to CoinGeek Backstage‘s Claire Celdran on the sidelines of the Bull or Bear event in La Union, YGG Country Manager Luis Buenaventura said while P2E games have been instrumental in introducing the means to earn in Web3, the Philippines have yet to tap into the numerous opportunities the emerging technology has to offer.

“We believe that there are income opportunities in Web3 for emerging economies like the Philippines, and the first manifestation of that was Play-to-Earn with Axie Infinity,” Buenevatura pointed out. “That being said, that’s not the only way to make money and earn an income; earn a new revenue stream for yourself in Web3. There’s so many different career paths.”

To expose Filipinos to these opportunities, the Bull or Bear panelist said it is vital that they have proper knowledge of the technology they are dealing with. To ensure this, YGG has focused its efforts on educating the public about emerging technologies, and one attempt is partnering with Bitskwela.

“We’re in the middle of a fairly lengthy crypto bear market cycle, and during that time, platforms and projects tend to be a little bit more quiet, so what we can do instead is help upskill people, like improve their understanding of this new world,” he said.

Banking on gaming in flourishing the blockchain community

Recalling the early days of the digital asset industry in 2014, when the only digital currency available to Filipinos was BTC, Buenaventura said there had been significant strides in terms of accepting the sector as more than just a network where users can trade and sell digital currencies.

He stressed that gaming played a huge part in onboarding Filipinos to the blockchain and Web3 communities.

“We’re now at the point where it is such a accepted kind of industry, especially for, maybe, I would say, the Gen Z folks because they’re just a lot more open to this stuff,” Buenaventura said.

Explaining the roles of games in helping to grow the Philippines’ blockchain community, the YGG country manager said gaming has made it easier for Filipinos to invest in digital currencies and explore other blockchain-based applications due to their unintimidating nature.

In terms of corporate blockchains, Buenaventura said that the Philippines continues to discuss, explore, and work on applications to improve businesses and enterprises but “not so much at the conference level anymore,” noting that technologies such as digital currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized finance, among others, are the kinds of tech that Filipinos need to understand more.

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