Hong Kong blockchain gaming firm Animoca weighing 2025-26 IPO, founder says

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said he hopes an IPO will bring ‘more attention to Web3’ and Asian markets, with a possible Hong Kong listing

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Animoca Brands is the biggest Web3 company in Hong Kong, with a portfolio of more than 400 start-ups. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:00pm, 27 Jun 2024

Hong Kong-based blockchain video gaming firm Animoca Brands is weighing options for a public listing, possibly in Hong Kong or the Middle East, as early as late next year.

“It’s contingent on many factors, but we feel 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 home city of Hong Kong or a Middle Eastern market, he told technology news publication The Information, which first reported the initial public offering plans on Wednesday. Dubai has become a hotspot for crypto business.

Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, speaks during a panel session at the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in Doha, Qatar, on May 24, 2023. Photo: Bloomberg

However, a possible IPO is still in its 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 amid scrutiny of its cryptocurrency activities – is about “bringing more attention to Web3”, the entrepreneur said.

“If you consider what companies like Coinbase have done for US attention in Web3, it’s a good example of a successful case to bring more focus on Web3,” Siu said. “We hope to achieve something similar in due course.”

As a Hong Kong-based company, Siu said he hopes a future IPO would also bring more attention to Asian markets.