Animoca’s Yat Siu bullish on TON partnership as Bitcoin sets strong foundation for 2024

December 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Animoca

Animoca Brands became the biggest validator of the TON blockchain in 2023, banking on the network effect of Telegram’s 800 million users to drive GameFi adoption.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu is confident that a number of investments and partnerships could prove fruitful in 2024 as mainstream institutional interest in Bitcoin (BTC) gathers steam.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph at the Next Block Expo event in Berlin, the chairman of the gaming venture capital firm highlights some 70 investments made in 2023 that are expected to deliver results next year.

Chief among these is a high-profile partnership with The Open Network (TON) blockchain, which was announced on Nov.

“We actually think that’s a tool for mass onboarding with TON wallet. What’s not to be excited about?”

Siu also said that Animoca’s acquisition of the social casual gaming platform Gamee in July 2020 is set to capitalize on its growing presence as a gaming platform on Telegram.

“There were no advertising and in-app purchases, and nothing was allowed in Telegram until recently with the integration of TON.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu gives an overview of the GameFi ecosystem during a keynote speech at the Next Block Expo in Berlin.
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Animoca denies reports of $200M cut to Metaverse fund and valuation drop to $2B

March 25, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Animoca

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Animoca co-founder Yat Siu noted that given the source’s anonymity, it “makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who or what the sources/agenda is.”

Venture capital firm and Web3 game developer Animoca Brands has refuted claims that it scaled back its Metaverse fund target by $200 million, or 20% to $800 million amid volatility in the crypto market and instability in the banking sector.

The firm also down-played suggestions that its valuation has plummeted from $6 billion as of July 2022 to roughly $2 billion in March 2023.

Stemming from a March 24 Reuters report that cited anonymous “people familiar with the matter,” it was claimed that Animoca initially halved its $2 billion Metaverse fund target in January, and then recently followed that up by cutting it down another 20% to $800 million.

The fund in question was announced in November, with the goal of allocating capital to mid to late-stage startups with a Metaverse focus. At the time, Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu outlined that the fund target was between $1 billion to $2 billion, depending on how much capital was raised.

In a public statement shared with Cointelegraph, Animoca stated that “the claim that the Animoca Capital fund target was ‘cut’ from $2 billion to $1 billion is not correct, because $1 billion has always been within the range declared.”

The firm did acknowledge that the banking collapses in the U.S. have of course had an impact, but stressed that the final amount raised for the fund has yet to be determined.

“There's no doubt that the FTX and banking crises have had a serious impact on available venture capital, but fundraising for the Animoca Capital fund is in progress. When the raise is concluded we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund,” the firm stated.

Commenting on the leaked information, Siu told Cointelegraph that given the information came from unnamed sources, it “makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who or what the sources and agenda are, which is unfortunate.”

"Angry Birds was not created by Activision." @viewfromhk, CEO of @animocabrands, explains in our exclusive chat at @ParisBlockWeek that major game companies don't always drive innovation.

Is it time for a new generation of game developers to shine in Web3? #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/UwcujLeGYY
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 22, 2023

Concerning the company’s valuation, Animoca asserted that the figures reported by Reuters and the “two other” unnamed people cited were inaccurate.

Animoca’s shares (AB1) were initially listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the firm’s early days. However, AB1 was delisted back in March 2020 due the ASX’s assertions that Animoca had breached its listing rules by being involved in crypto-related activities, among other things.

Since then, its shares have traded on unlisted stock-focused exchanges such as the Sydney-based PrimaryMarkets.

The data from this platform was used to calculate a total market cap of AB1 at around roughly $2 billion. However, Animoca argues that these figures don’t paint the full picture of the company’s total valuation.

“The claim [...] that Animoca Brands ‘now trades its shares on PrimaryMarkets’ is not technically correct. We terminated our arrangement with PrimaryMarkets in the second half of 2020, but PrimaryMarkets chose to continue to trade Animoca Brands shares on its platform,” the firm stated, adding that:

“We do not consider the thin trading activity on PrimaryMarkets to accurately reflect the company's value. Trading volume is far too low to provide the price accuracy you would find on an actual primary market.”

Nifty News: Royalty-enforcing NFTs a ‘new asset class,’ South Korea buys NFTs with CBDC, and more

November 8, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Animoca

The CEO of NFT marketplace Magic Eden said NFT creators “need a sustained revenue model” and with “no way” of currently enforcing royalties a “new asset class” could emerge to enforce them.

Royalty enforcing NFTs to be a ‘new asset class’: Magic Eden CEO

Jack Lu, the CEO of Solana-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has floated the idea of NFTs designed to enforce royalties.

Lu said in an address at Solana’s Breakpoint 2022 conference on Nov. 5 that these NFTs could “give rise to a new asset class” as the space grapples with the debate around opt-in royalties.

He added that “creators need a sustained revenue model” and while royalties were one of those models there is “no way” to enforce them with the “current design” but added there are “many new innovations that could be made available to them.”

Lu noted that over the past months, Magic Eden had spoken to “dozens, if not 100” NFT creators across differing NFT use case and that they found their needs “actually are very, very divergent.”

“There is a real opportunity to give rise to a new asset class, and this asset class will have special properties but also have special trade-offs. So it could enforce royalties at a technological high technological level.”

Those “trade-offs” would mean NFT creators would have “some level of control” Lu explained but added in the talks Magic Eden had with creators and holders that they were “willing to accept some of these trade-offs” in order to ensure that they could bring their business models to fruition.

According to Lu, Magic Eden is set to launch an asset “next week” that can enforce royalties in partnership with Cardinal, a protocol enabling NFT conditional ownership and the privacy-oriented browser Brave.

*Jack Lu at Solana Breakpoint conference. Source: YouTube*

South Korea tests buying NFTs with CBDC

The Bank of Korea (BOK) — South Korea’s central bank — has reportedly tested buying NFTs with its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) according to a Nov. 7 report from Yonhap News.

The BOK said it had completed a simulation and research project carried out over the past ten months since Aug. 2021, creating a simulated environment for its CBDC using distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The project tested the usual functions needed for a digital currency, including issuing, transacting and remittances using the digital won, while the report also noted that “the process of purchasing NFTs with CBDCs was also implemented.”

It’s reported that this process was done through the simulated environment and a “digital asset system” built using differing DLT platforms with smart contract functionality, without going into further detail.

The BOK also tested the possibility of applying Zero Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to strengthen the protection of personal information. ZKP protocols can be used for forms of digital identities with some iterations using NFTs as a digital ID solution, although it's unknown if the NFTs transacted in the project were related to digital identities.

South Korea has stated its plan to allow its citizens access to blockchain-powered digital IDs in 2024 that could be used in finance, healthcare, taxes, and transportation.

TinyTap NFTs sell out giving over $100K to teachers

An NFT project by Animoca Brands in conjunction with its subsidiary TinyTap has seen six NFTs featuring a children’s educational course sell at auction for a total of around 138 Ether (ETH) — around $228,000, Animoca said on Nov. 7.

The project was created as a way for educators to create content and receive a share of revenues when their course is purchased and used by learners according to Animoca.

The six teachers who created the courses were given a 50% cut of thes sale of the NFT, generating them around $111,000 in ETH, while the teachers will also receive a 10% ongoing share of revenue by their course.

*The teachers, courses, and sale price of the six NFTs sold at auction. Image: Animoca Brands*

Animoca calls the NFTs “Publisher NFTs” with each representing co-publishing rights to a course — which is a bundle of education-based games on a specific subject created by a teacher.

The NFT owner is expected to promote their course and share the revenue and is entitled to keep up to 80% of future revenue generated by their own marketing and publishing of the course.

Trademark filings show Rolex is timing a Metaverse play

Rolex isn’t wasting any time gearing up to launch a Web3 play with trademark filings showing the luxury watch brand is ready to tick over into the Metaverse.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filings shared by trademark attorney Mike Kondoudis on Twitter show Rolex is ticking off a list of crypto and NFT-related trademarks to protect its brand across virtual realms.

Luxury watchmaker #ROLEX has filed a trademark application claiming plans for:

⌚️ NFTs + NFT-backed media + NFT marketplaces
⌚️ Crypto keys and transactions
⌚️ Virtual goods auctions
⌚️ Virtual and cryptocurrency exchange + transfer#NFTs #Metaverse #Crypto #Web3 #Perpetual pic.twitter.com/J8C93Qcybj
— Mike Kondoudis (@KondoudisLaw) November 7, 2022

The filings suggest Rolex wants to offer NFTs, crypto wallets, crypto transactions and hints at a potential metaverse as it wishes to provide an “online space for buyers and sellers” and hold “virtual interactive auctions” although time will tell what type of online space Rolex may build.

More Nifty News:

Companies are showing a big appetite for trademark applications as crypto, Web3, and related filings have soared in 2022, reaching 4,708 at the end of October compared to the 3,547 filed in all of 2021.

The Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 breakout, has reportedly axed its NFT plans aimed to boost its economy ruined by the pandemic amid increasing regulatory uncertainty on crypto and Web3 technologies in the country.

Animoca Brands Raises $75M, Boosts Valuation to $5.9B Amid Crypto Winter

July 12, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Gaming Giant Ubisoft Mentions Blockchain in Recent Earnings Report

November 2, 2021 Bitcoin.com

The Sandbox raises $93M to expand its NFT metaverse

November 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

The Sandbox raises M to expand its NFT metaverse

Animoca

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the $93 million Series B round, marking the fund’s first investment into crypto assets.

The metaverse continues to be the next attraction point of crypto for investors, with The Sandbox, an Animoca Brands subsidiary and nonfungible token (NFT) metaverse platform, raising fresh capital in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

Marking SoftBank Vision Fund 2’s first investment into the crypto assets, The Sandbox’s Series B round saw $93 million raised with the participation of Animoca Brands, True Global Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, SCB 10X, Polygon Studios and Samsung Next, among others.

According to the announcement, The Sandbox aims to speed up the growth of its open metaverse with games, live performances and social experiences while “supporting more creators and involving more brands and intellectual properties.”

The game enables players to monetize their time spent in the metaverse in different ways, also known as the play-to-earn model. It creates a circular economy where the resources collected by one category of players are sold and purchased by another category of player or creator, the announcement reads.

As an NFT-based open metaverse, The Sandbox is known for its partnerships with over 165 brands — including Snoop Dogg, The Walking Dead, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Atari and CryptoKitties — “to create voxelized versions of their worlds and characters on the platform.“ Binance, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Socios, the Winklevoss twins and CoinMarketCap bought digital land in the metaverse of The Sandbox.

The Sandbox CEO and co-founder Arthur Madrid shared the team’s plans to expand into fashion, architecture, virtual concerts and shows, art galleries, and museums. “We are developing an entire ecosystem that opens new digital job opportunities for players and creators in our open NFT metaverse,” he added.

Aaron Wong, an investor at SoftBank Investment Advisers, explained that The Sandbox is leveraging blockchain and decentralized governance to give power and control to its users:

“We believe The Sandbox is constructing an open metaverse, unlocking new economic opportunities by empowering people to build and monetize their creations, from avatars and buildings to games and collectibles.”

Last month, The Sandbox parent company Animoca Brands, backed by gaming giants like Ubisoft Entertainment, also raised $65 million in new funding round, doubling its valuation to $2.2 billion.

Shanghai Man: Central bank speaks out, BTC searches down and HK fund backs Animoca

July 8, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Animoca

PBoC says no to virtual currencies, Jack Ma's fund invests $50m into NFT game maker, searches for BTC in China at 90 day low

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations.

China crackdown: Week 7

The summer of crackdowns continued this week, making it seven weeks since the initial announcement on May 18 that virtual currencies were a risky investment and financial institutions should not provide services for them. The crackdown appears to be having a desired effect as public interest in the asset class is cooling. This is evident by 90-day lows on WeChat searches for the word 'Bitcoin' over the past weekend, although this was a trend mirrored on worldwide Google searches as well.

The central bank was the aggressor this week, posting an announcement on its website on July 6 that it and other relevant institutions are not allowed to directly or indirectly provide customers with virtual currency-related services. The announcement also mentioned that institutions can not provide services such as business venues, commercial displays, marketing campaigns and payment diversion for business activities related to virtual currencies. As usual, comments on Weibo were strongly in favor of the regulation as China’s social media still has a vocal section of traditional investors.

Jack Ma’s fund apes in

On July 1, NFT gaming giant Animoca Brands announced it had received $50 million in investment from Blue Pool Capital. Blue Pool Capital was created by tech entrepreneur Jack Ma in 2015 and manages a portion of his $52.1 billion net worth. Blue Pool Capital is also managing a portion of Joe Tsai’s wealth, who is the current Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba. Animoca Brands develops and publishes NFT games such as REVV Motorsport and The Sandbox.

Miners in the money

The BTC mining hash rate is still down around 50% as Chinese miners sit on the sidelines or look to relocate. This led to a difficulty adjustment in the Bitcoin consensus algorithm, making blocks around 28% easier to mine. As a result, the remaining miners became an estimated 50% more profitable, according to a report in Cointelegraph.

Many people, including Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, spoke out about the positive consequences of the current crackdown. Nick Spanos of Zap Finance stated that Bitcoin was an unstoppable machine due to the fact that “the world’s second-biggest economy can’t crush, devalue and manipulate Bitcoin.” This conclusion from Spanos ignores the fact that China derives very little social value from crushing or devaluing Bitcoin. The current policy is more interested in eliminating inefficient use of energy and risky, speculative trading behavior.

Crossing the line

On July 6, the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau banned the China Blockchain Application Research Center. Specific reasons for the ban were not given, although the official response claimed that the research center was carrying out illegal social activities. It’s likely the center had been involved with cryptocurrencies, and considering the official nature of their name, was deemed to have acted illegally. It’s very common for organizations to take official sounding names in an attempt to improve their status within the industry.

The China Blockchain Application Research Center was founded in Beijing in November 2015 by the Museum of Internet Finance and some other institutions in the blockchain industry. It claimed to have regional centers set up in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and Dubai. In hindsight, their contribution to the industry appears to have been minimal, making this legal action more ceremonial than anything.

Animoca

Royalty enforcing NFTs to be a ‘new asset class’: Magic Eden CEO

South Korea tests buying NFTs with CBDC

TinyTap NFTs sell out giving over $100K to teachers

Trademark filings show Rolex is timing a Metaverse play

More Nifty News:

China crackdown: Week 7

Jack Ma’s fund apes in

Miners in the money

Crossing the line

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