Tech
Hong Kong Blockchain Gaming Firm Animoca Eyes IPO in 2025-26, Says Founder
Based in Hong Kong Blockchain video games Animoca Brands is evaluating options for a public listing, possibly in Hong Kong or the Middle East, as early as late next year.
“It depends on a lot of factors, but we are confident that we will go public,” Siu said in a statement to the Post on Thursday. “And if that happens, it’s likely in the second half of 2025.”
Siu is considering listing in Animoca’s hometown of Hong Kong or a Middle Eastern market, he told tech news publication The Information, which first reported the initial public offering plans Wednesday. Dubai has become a hotspot for cryptocurrency business.
Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, speaks during a session at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in Doha, Qatar, on May 24, 2023. Photo: Bloomberg
However, a possible IPO is still in the early planning stages and the company has not yet hired an adviser, Siu told the Post.
Returning to the public market, after delisting in Australia in March 2020 following scrutiny of its cryptocurrency activities, means “bringing more attention to Web3”, the entrepreneur said.
“If you look at what companies like Coinbase have done to get the US attention on Web3, it’s a good example of a success to get more attention on Web3,” Siu said. “We hope to do something similar in due course.”
As a Hong Kong-based company, Siu said he hoped a future IPO could attract more attention in Asian markets as well.
Founded in 2014, Animoca Brands has become a major investor in the Web3 ecosystem, which boasts a vast portfolio of over 400 blockchain startups. It is also known for its metaverse platform The Sandbox, which gained popularity at the height of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) hype and the metaverse boom 2021. In its last publicly announced valuation, Animoca was worth US$5.9 billion after a US$75 million funding round in July 2022. Its investors include HongShan, formerly Sequoia Capital China, Singapore state fund Temasek Holdings e Smart city project supported by the Saudi government Neom Companywho invested $50 million in Animoca last year. Animoca’s fortunes have surged this year along with cryptocurrency prices after bitcoin hit an all-time high. Siu he previously told the Post this would have a “material impact” on the company this year. Much of Animoca’s financial holdings are made up of crypto assets, which it divides into liquid and off-balance sheet reserves, including Sand, The Sandbox’s native token.
The company had a combined cash and stablecoin balance of US$291 million by the end of March, according to an unaudited financial report published in April. This was up from US$194 million in April 2023.
In late 2022, Hong Kong unveiled a policy shift aimed at supporting the virtual asset sector and attracting business to the city. Its compulsory licensing regime that came into effect in June last year, however, was widely seen as unusually onerous, due to high compliance costs compared to limited market opportunities.
Siu, however, remains optimistic. The recent developments do not diminish Hong Kong’s status as a crypto hub “because not many jurisdictions even have a regime for that,” he said.
“Hong Kong is balancing the requirements and we know they are very serious about it,” he added. “But this is part of the evolution.”