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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 becomes largest validator of Telegram’s TON blockchain

November 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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Animoca Brands invests in Telegram’s TON blockchain protocol and becomes its largest validator as it eyes GameFi development on the platform.

Web3 investment firm Animoca Brands is set to become the largest validator of Telegram’s TON (The Open Network) blockchain and plans to deliver blockchain-based games to the messaging app’s 800 million strong user base.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph outlined how the partnership will involve the provision of funding, research, and an analytics platform for third-party TON ecosystem applications.

The value of Animoca’s investment was not disclosed at the time of publishing, but part of the investment is understood to have been made directly into Toncoin, which has been staked as part of the validator agreement.

Animoca has carried out extensive market research on TON’s wider ecosystem focused on the platform’s ability to drive cryptocurrency and GameFi adoption.

The firm plans to strategically support TON Play, a gaming infrastructure project based on the TON blockchain. The infrastructure allows gaming applications to be built on TON and launched on Telegram, as well as port existing web-based games to the messaging app.

Ton Play will enable developers to deliver games to some 800 million Telegram users through its web application and the mobile app’s PlayDeck bot - which allows users to browse a catalog of mobile games.

Telegram's PlayDeck bot allows users to browse a catalog of mobile games. Animoca plans to deliver blockchain-based games through the channel.

Animoca will also explore the ability to port a selection of its gaming titles and applications from its portfolio of over 400 Web3 projects to Telegram.

Animoca Brands Research has also developed its own TON Analytics Dashboard, which gathers a variety of metrics from TON’s open internet ecosystem, which includes TON Blockchain, TON DNS, TON Storage and TON Sites.

Animoca Brands Research has created a live dashboard monitoring key networks of the TON ecosystem.

TON Foundation director of growth Justin Hyun said the analytics platform and in-depth research reports provided by Animoca will play an important role in infusing Web3 functionality into the everyday experiences of Telegram users.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said the investment in TON is aligned with the firm’s efforts to drive adoption and the transition of Web2 to Web3.

“Taking part in the network’s validation underlines our faith in the successful realization of the vision behind the TON project as it looks to bring Web3 into the mainstream.”

Siu added that Animoca has identified significant growth potential of gaming within the TON ecosystem and intends to drive the development of TON-based games over the next few years.

The partnership with TON is the second instance of Animoca becoming a validator of a proof-of-stake blockchain protocol in Nov. 2023. The firm joined fan token blockchain Chiliz Chain as a validator for its native proof-of-stake authority protocol on Nov. 14.

Chiliz Chain is the backbone of Socios.com, which operates a plethora of fan tokens for some of the biggest global football and sports teams. Europe’s most loved football clubs and several household sports brands have tapped into the solution to power Web3 fan tokens and other blockchain-based offerings.

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Animoca eyes SportFi ecosystem, becomes Chiliz Chain validator

November 14, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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Animoca Brands will become a validator for the Chiliz Chain as the venture capital firm looks to capitalize on the SportFi ecosystem.

Venture capital firm Animoca Brands will put its weight behind fan token blockchain Chiliz Chain as it joins the network as a validator within its proof-of-stake authority protocol.

Chiliz Chain is the backbone of Socios.com, the platform that operates a plethora of fan tokens for some of the biggest global football and sports teams. Europe’s most loved football clubs and a number of household sports brands have tapped into the solution to power Web3 fan tokens and other blockchain-based offerings.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu says the partnership presents an opportunity for his firm to combine its expertise in nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming with Chiliz’s focus on sports and entertainment-focused blockchain solutions.

“We have already seen the rise of DeFi and GameFi, and we believe that SportFi represents the next major growth area that will redefine fan engagement and create new financial dynamics in the sports industry.”

Chiliz CEO Alexandre Dreyfus adds that Animoca’s addition as a network validator marks a pivotal point in the firm’s history as it looks to solidify its position as a major blockchain solution primarily focused on catalyzing Web3 functionality and the wider sports industry.

Animoca Brands becomes the latest validator of the Chiliz Chain, joining the likes of Ankr, Paribu, Meria, Luganoes and InfStones as validators. Similar to proof-of-stake blockchain protocols like Ethereum, validators authorize and enable the creation of fan tokens, NFTs and decentralized applications, as well as verifying transactions and executing smart contracts.

Animoca has a wide-ranging spread of investments across the Web3 space and has also honed its focus on the sports sector. Its Web3 sports products include One Fight Arena, AFL Mint and REVV Motorsport. The latter includes the likes of MotoGP Ignition, MotoGP Guru, Formula E: High Voltage, REVV Racing and Torque Drift.

Animoca grabbed headlines in April 2022 by acquiring French racing game developer Eden Games for $15.3 million. The deal aimed to acquire racing game development talent to enhance the REVV Motorsport ecosystem and introduce blockchain-based games focused on the genre.

Chiliz launched its own layer-1 Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible blockchain ecosystem to support its growth in Feb. 2023. The launch marked the transition away from its Ethereum-based ERC-20 token ecosystem to its own blockchain solution.

The blockchain initially used a system of 11 active validators with proof-of-stake authority consensus, which is touted to provide faster block times, lower fees and energy usage.

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Web3 gaming investors more ‘choosy’ in crypto winter — Animoca’s Robby Yung

October 31, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung says investors have been more discerning when allocating capital to Web3 gaming projects during crypto winter.

Investing in Web3 gaming has required a greater level of due diligence through a testing cryptocurrency bear market, according to Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung.

Yung, who is also co-founder of popular Metaverse platform The Sandbox, highlighted more robust check-boxes when considering Web3 gaming investments while speaking at the European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona.

The Animoca Brands CEO said that investment propositions involve finding a mix of passionate teams with specific skill sets who are building product ideas that have a clear market fit:

“Now that we’re in a sort of crypto winter and an economic downturn, from the investor perspective, we can afford to be quite choosy because, obviously, capital is scarce.”

Yung added that the stage of development of prospective projects that Animoca Brands considers investing in is typically more mature when compared to the standards it had a couple of years ago.

*Tim Stingelin, Leo Khan, Robby Yung and Saro McKenna delve into the state of Web3 gaming at the European Blockchain Convention 2023 in Barcelona. Source: Cointelegraph*

Investors are more demanding as a result, requiring tangible progress for projects that are seeking to raise capital:

“You have to have an alpha build. Ideally, you have some kind of user testing out there when you first go out and look for external capital. It’s very difficult to raise just on the basis of the business plan in this market.”

While investors may be more discerning, Yung also conceded that companies continue to raise money and that the second half of 2023 has been a testament to that, with a number of deals being done:

“It has improved a lot, but there has been a flight to quality.”

User acquisition also remains a hurdle for the Web3 gaming space, which Yung attributed to challenges around the distribution of games. He pointed to hesitance from mainstream gaming platforms to list games that have Web3 infrastructure:

“We’ve historically been unwelcome in most traditional gaming distribution platforms, whether that’s mobile app stores, Steam or console platforms.”

Yung believes that mainstream players remain uncertain about the implications of including Web3 infrastructure in their offerings, which has initially led to a knee-jerk reaction:

“I think that the idea of putting Web3 infrastructure in would bypass their business models, as in the fees that they take for distribution.”

The Animoca Brands CEO added that the conclusions drawn prevented players like Steam, EA and Epic Games from learning more about the possibilities and engaging with the Web3 community to find solutions that cater to the wider gaming market.

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The Sandbox implements KYC measures for protocol staking

August 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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Unverified users can still withdraw staked SAND but will be unable to make further deposits.

Metaverse platform The Sandbox will require Know Your Customer (KYC) verification for its staking processes, according to an Aug. 3 announcement.

The announcement stated that only verified users could deposit The Sandbox (SAND) tokens, which are native to the platform, and claim staking rewards, while non-verified users will be placed into withdraw-only mode. Data from blockchain analytics firm Messari shows that 123 million SAND, or 6.7% of the token’s circulating supply, is currently staked by users. The Sandbox developers wrote:

“To enhance user security and compliance, we have implemented KYC verification for our staking process. Our goal is to ensure that our users’ accounts are verified before they can participate in staking or claim their earnings."

On June 6, Cointelegraph reported that SAND was one of 68 cryptocurrencies the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deemed to be a security in its latest lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase. SAND was deployed on the Ethereum blockchain in 2012 by San Francisco gaming firm Pixowl. In 2018, Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands acquired Pixowl via its subsidiary TSB Gaming, intending to build a 3D metaverse utilizing blockchain technology.

Citing various initial exchange offerings and private sales conducted by developers over the years, the SEC alleges:

"The information TSB publicly disseminated has led SAND holders, including those who have purchased SAND since May 2022, reasonably to view SAND as an investment in and to expect to profit from TSB's efforts to grow the Sandbox protocol, which, in turn, would increase the demand for and the value of SAND."

Since the publication of the Coinbase lawsuit, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu has criticized the lack of “consistency" regarding SEC regulations and praised Hong Kong’s shifting attitude toward blockchain.

To enhance user security and compliance, we have implemented KYC verification for our staking process. Our goal is to ensure that our users' accounts are verified before they can participate in staking or claim their earnings.

Unverified users can still withdraw their $SAND,…
— The Sandbox (@TheSandboxGame) August 3, 2023

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