Animoca targets $1b fund for Web3, metaverse

Crypto major Animoca Brands is aiming to raise roughly US$1 billion in the first quarter of 2023 for a new fund focusing on Web3 and metaverse investments, Bloomberg reported.

While the cryptocurrency industry is steel reeling from the FTX fiasco, Animoca still has “quite a bit of interest” in the sector, said Yat Siu, the Hong Kong-based company’s CEO and co-founder, in a chat with the publication.

Last October, Siu told Nikkei Asia that Animoca was looking to launch a US$2 billion fund specifically for the metaverse industry.

Siu said the company’s revenue took a hit in 2022 due to the decline of token prices. “Because our revenues are based on tokens, the overall revenue in fiat terms will also be affected.”

In its latest update for investors, Animoca said it generated about US$573 million for the first four months of 2022 for bookings and other income.

Bookings include token sales, NFT sales including secondary sales, and other non-blockchain activities. Other income includes gains or losses of investments and digital assets holdings, according to the company.

See also: Animoca looks to forge metaverse rules with Web2 giants amid war of words (Updated)