Key takeaways:
- Animoca Brands, an innovator of blockchain gaming technology, has allegedly reduced its goal for its metaverse fund by another 20% to $800 million.
- After announcing in November 2022 that it was putting $2 billion towards a new Animoca Capital fund, the business cut that goal in half in January 2023.
According to Reuters, which cited sources familiar with the situation, Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands, an innovator of blockchain gaming technology, has allegedly reduced its goal for its metaverse fund by another 20% to $800 million.
As a result of the turbulence in the cryptocurrency market, a blockchain-based gaming technology company has apparently scaled back a billion-dollar goal. Prior to cutting that goal in half to $1 billion in January 2023, the company had previously stated in November 2022 that it had begun work on a new Animoca Capital fund with a target of $2 billion.
According to those familiar with the situation, recent developments have revealed that the business has once again cut its target by an additional 20% to $800 million, which is in line with expectations. Reuters’ sources stated that they would prefer not to be identified because they had not been permitted to talk to the media.
According to two sources quoted by Reuters, Animoca’s market capitalization has decreased to under $2 billion from its initial valuation of about $6 billion as a result of a Temasek-led financing round in July 2022, and its shares are currently trading at a significant lower price on secondary markets.
A shift in opinion about the cryptocurrency industry is indicated by the reduced fundraising goal and falling valuation, as interest in such technologies has waned as a result of scandals varying from FTX’s demise to the insolvency of several crypto lenders.
Following the completion of 15 metaverse deals in 2022 and the receipt of over $564 million in the financing, Animoca Brand was recognized by Nasdaq as the metaverse developer with the highest funding in 2022.
A significant player in the metaverse market, Animoca owns the bulk of The Sandbox, one of the top metaverse platforms. The business has actively contributed to the development of GameFi and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in addition to this investment. In Yat Siu’s view, one of the company’s co-founders, GameFi, will become a common entry point for the general public to enter the metaverse, making it one of the top points for the general public to enter the metaverse.
