Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, expressed optimism about the fruition of numerous investments and partnerships in 2024 as he observed mainstream institutions showing increasing interest in Bitcoin.
During an exclusive interview at the Next Block Expo in Berlin, Siu, chairman of the gaming venture capital firm, shed light on around 70 investments made in 2023, anticipating their culmination in the coming year. One of the notable ventures is a significant partnership with The Open Network (TON) blockchain, disclosed on November 28. Siu disclosed that this investment entails acquiring an undisclosed amount of Toncoin, serving as part of a validator staking protocol. He sees this as a catalyst for mass adoption of TON wallets, especially considering Telegram's massive user base of 800 million individuals utilizing TON.
Regarding Animoca's acquisition of Gamee, a social casual gaming platform, Siu mentioned the struggle in monetizing the game within the Telegram messaging app until the recent integration of TON. This integration has made Gamee commercially viable, enabling monetization avenues like ads and in-app purchases. While Gamee isn't fully integrated into Telegram yet, Siu highlighted the growing excitement around GameFi and its prospects on Telegram, reflecting in the appreciation of its native GMEE token.
Furthermore, Animoca maintains vested interests in Metaverse projects and the broader performance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Siu commented on the recovery of the NFT market, attributing it to long-term holders' valuation of individual projects and their underlying fundamentals. He noted a decline in the number of NFTs available for purchase in prominent series, a shift from the oversaturation observed during the 2021 bull run.
Looking ahead to 2024, Siu remains optimistic due to macro factors such as the anticipated approval of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs and recent market developments. He highlighted the expectation of U.S. regulatory approval for Bitcoin spot ETFs and the resolution of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, along with Binance's $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities. Siu sees these developments shaping a positive landscape for the year ahead, anticipating multiple spot Bitcoin ETF approvals and citing the alleviation of downward market pressure due to the liquidation of $60 million in BTC short positions.
