TL;DR - Is Axie a way to passively earn income?

No, don't worry. I'm not asking how to do it, or looking a guide to being profitable in it. It's just that I'm that one guy in the family and circle of friends that's designated as the IT personnel, and I've been getting hammered with questions about the game and how is it possible to earn money from it.

I don't know anything about it but people have been sending me articles about this (the ones from the Philippines). I did some light reading and found that, yes, you can make money off of it, but no, it isn't a passive income (per se, gotta be active with monster trades). Not to mention you need some capital to start unless you get a scholarship.

Can anyone clarify how you can earn money with this? Is it trading monster/parts and people paying ETH for them?