Animoca Brands, Blockchain Gaming Giant Says Web3 Future Is Not Far Away
Animoca Brands co-founder and chairman Yat Siu believes the transition to Web3, the next generation of the internet, will happen sooner than many think.
“Within the next 18 months, we expect hundreds of millions of new entrants to join the Open Metaverse as the quality of Open Metaverse products such as: New high-quality blockchain games hit the market. , will attract new waves to join the field,” he said.
Siu gave a keynote interview at the Urban Land Institute’s Asia-Pacific Summit on Wednesday. He pointed out that his 3.2 billion people who regularly play video games are already active in “closed his metaverse.” People who play these games are creating virtual identities and acquiring digital goods that many players believe they own, when in reality this is not the case. You are effectively leasing your goods to players.
A decentralized version of the Internet, Web3 puts the digital ownership of technology companies in the hands of users, allowing them to move freely across platforms in an open metaverse. Siu says that as people find more ways to use his NFTs throughout the metaverse, they will come to see the value this freedom brings.
He also believes that physical limitations won’t hold back the transition. Much of the underlying infrastructure in terms of the actual hardware and networks needed to support the transition to Web3 is already in place. I’m here.
According to Siu, Web3 adoption is being driven by younger demographics. “One of the reasons why young people are attracted to his Web3 is that he doesn’t represent better technology, but because it actually represents a better future,” he said. .
Younger generations feel that “the existing financial system and existing opportunities just don’t work together”, but with Web3, they will be able to build things themselves and have cross-platform digital ownership, giving them more opportunities. is born.
Animoca has emerged as one of the leading proponents of an open metaverse powered by blockchain technology while amassing his one of the world’s largest investment portfolios in Web3. By his April of this year, the company’s portfolio had grown to 340 investments in his Web3 companies and projects across finance, games, art and social media. The total portfolio at that time was $1.5 billion.
Animoca was founded by him in 2014 to develop games for smartphones and tablets. Siu said he stepped into blockchain games and his NFTs in late 2017 at Dapper Labs (then he was Axiom Zen), the Vancouver-based company behind CryptoKitties. It is said that it was when he discovered He saw the potential of his NFT in terms of digital property rights and jumped on Animoca.
In 2018 and 2019, when the crypto winter was in full swing and others were fleeing with cut losses, Animoka was a buyer. Siu says investments in Sky Mavis (developer of Axie Infinity), OpenSea (NFT marketplace), and Decentraland (Metaverse game platform) have allowed him to enter early. The sandbox developer also acquired Pixowl.
In July, Animoca raised another $75 million, bringing its valuation to his $5.9 billion. This is his second tranche of a funding round announced in January, raising $359 million. The company’s backers include George Soros, the Winklevoss twins, Jack Ma, Joseph Tsai and others.
