Yat Siu, Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chairman (Photo credit: Bing Guan/Bloomberg).

Blockchain game developer and venture capital firm Animoca Brands launched a validator on layer-1 chain Core as it continues to make a big push in Web3 this year.

“By becoming a validator, Animoca Brands is actively participating in the governance and stability of Core, highlighting its trust in the vision to unlock over $1.3 trillion of trapped liquidity on Bitcoin,” a July 11 joint announcement said.

Core, an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible network, allows for Bitcoin (BTC) staking and is governed by Core DAO, an organization dedicated to expanding the Satoshi Plus ecosystem. The latest data from DefiLlama shows that the platform has $122.71 million in total value locked (TVL).

Brendon Sedo, an initial contributor at Core, said Animoca Brands would play a crucial role in validating the network, adding that their initial collaboration with the Web3 giant is just the first.

In addition to running a validator, Animoca Brands will work with Core contributors to introduce its Web3 decentralized applications (dApps) to the Core chain, contributing to the growth of Bitcoin Finance (BTCFi) on the platform.

Animoca Brands’s Web3 push

The Yat Siu co-founded company rides a wave of momentum in 2024. In its first-quarter investor update, Animoca Brands reported bookings of $90 million, up 72% from the previous year’s $52 million. This growth is primarily attributed to $65 million in revenue from digital asset advisory services, including token advisory, trading, and blockchain node operations. An additional $19 million came from Web3 subsidiaries and startup partnerships, with investment management contributing $6 million.

The company’s cash and stablecoin assets have also spiked by 66% in Q1.

On July 11, Mocaverse, the membership network and metaverse project of Animoca Brands, also launched its MOCA token in an attempt to give “value to our portfolio’s networks and reward the time, loyalty, and attention of Mocaverse users.”

Last year was also a busy period for the Web3 giant, becoming a validator on the sports fan token platform Chiliz Chain and The Open Network (TON) blockchain, a Telegram-focused network.

Animoca Brands’s Web3 push, particularly its strong financial performance, comes as it eyes a potential public listing in the Middle East or Hong Kong markets. The company was previously listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) but was delisted in March 2020 due to regulatory concerns.

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