Animoca Brands chairman Yat Siu said NFTs are currently competing with memecoin for attention but have a lasting quality.
Siu said Animoca was still considering returning to public markets, with an IPO “more likely in 2026”.
Yat Siu, chairman of Hong Kong-based Web3 Ventures firm Animoca Brands, said non-fungible tokens are currently “competing with memecoin for attention,” but their “non-fungible” nature will have lasting significance.
While Animoca has been a long-term investor in NFTs, the market as a whole is still struggling to emulate the peak figures of 2021 and 2022. According to Cryptoslam , total NFT trading volume was $3.24 billion in the week of August 22, 2021, while the market recorded approximately $80 million last week.
“Right now, NFTs are competing with memecoin for attention,” Siu told The Block in an interview at the Foresight 2024 event in Hong Kong. He explained that although memecoin is fungible, it has taken on some of the role that NFTs play in expressing the culture of many celebrities, influencers, and users.
“Three years ago, I didn’t know how many NFT projects were launched every day, and now it’s happening with memecoin,” the Animoca chairman said. “Ultimately, when this cycle is complete… what will become more important to your reputation than money? NFTs.”
Siu added that the future will focus on Web3 as a means of building a good reputation. “One of the problems we have in Web3 right now is that too many people are only thinking about economic capital, and they haven’t fully thought about their Web3 presence as a reputation,” he said.
Siu said that as Web3 gradually embodies cultural, social and symbolic capital, users will recognize the importance of the reputation layer in the blockchain, and NFT plays an indispensable role in it due to its non-fungibility.
US election is coming
Meanwhile, the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election could determine the path of cryptocurrencies in the world’s largest economy.
“By November, the U.S. will be fighting to regain leadership in crypto,” Siu said. “If it’s Trump, it’s going to be full throttle; if it’s Harris, I think the U.S. will be more cautious, but not passive.”
The Animoca founder said he is optimistic that the positive attitude toward cryptocurrencies in the United States will reinvigorate venture capital activity, which has been relatively quiet since the FTX crash. Siu also said that the potential increase in capital flows will spur interaction between the Web3 industry in the United States, Asia, and other parts of the world.
“In Web3, every token holder is an investor,” Siu said. “Imagine if the entire United States is now more open to crypto… This basically opens up a whole new form of liquidity.”
On decentralized prediction platform Polymarket, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has a 53% chance of winning the election as of this writing, while Donald Trump’s odds of winning have dropped to 46% from 70% in mid-July.
While Trump has expressed support for blockchain and cryptocurrency, Harris’ campaign has recently begun working with cryptocurrency leaders such as Mark Cuban to promote “Crypto for Harris.” A group of cryptocurrency experts and lawmakers are scheduled to speak at an event called “Crypto4Harris” on Wednesday, aimed at reshaping the cryptocurrency industry’s connection with Harris.
Potential IPO
Meanwhile, Animoca is weighing a possible return to public markets after delisting from the Australian Stock Exchange in 2020. The company said it is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong or the Middle East in late 2025 or early 2026.
“Frankly, I think 2026 is more likely,” Siu told The Block.
Siu said the company has not yet selected advisers for a potential IPO, but Animoca intends to conduct a non-deal roadshow in September in preparation. Non-deal roadshows allow investors to learn about a company's current initiatives and future plans, such as an IPO, without the purpose of selling securities.
Animoca said in an April disclosure that its “financial position remains strong,” with a cash and stablecoin balance of $291 million. Siu said the company has invested in about 540 Web3 projects to date.
