Animoca Brands has teamed up with Antler’s corporate innovation arm, Ibex Japan, to launch a dedicated Web3 entertainment investment fund aimed at bringing Japan’s anime and manga intellectual property (IP) onchain.
The announcement was made on Tuesday at the WebX conference in Tokyo, Animoca Brands revealed in a post on X.
Animoca’s co-founder and chairman, Yat Siu, senior adviser Keyvan Peymani, and Ibex Japan partner Sandeep Casi outlined the project during the conference, according to a report by Japanese crypto news outlet CoinPost.
Per the report, Casi noted that “90% to 99% of Japan’s IP is lying dormant on the shelves and has great value.” He added that Antler’s global reach, which includes 22 cities, $1.2 billion in assets under management, and a network of 250,000 entrepreneurs, positions the initiative for international scale.
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Sui said that Animoca already has a “presence in Japan through ABKK,” its Japanese subsidiary. “This partnership is about expanding Japanese IP globally,” he added, noting that the effort goes beyond gaming and will also target fintech, healthcare and medtech applications.
Casi and Peymani will act as co-general partners of the fund, which will license underutilized Japanese IP and back the creation of new Web3 products and services. The pair plan to announce initial targets in the coming months.
Siu said the timing is optimal, citing the resurgence of NFTs and stronger digital asset markets. Data from NFT Price Floor showed that the overall NFT market capitalization peaked at $9.3 billion on Aug. 13, up 40% from July’s $6.6 billion.
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Meanwhile, in the US, crypto exchange Kraken held talks with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force to discuss its plans for a tokenized trading system.
As reported, a memorandum filed Monday showed SEC staff met with representatives from Kraken’s parent company, its securities arm, and lawyers from WilmerHale, focusing on regulation, legal requirements and the potential benefits of tokenization.
Kraken launched its tokenized stock service on May 22, allowing non-US investors to trade US equities around the clock, while Robinhood introduced a similar service in Europe on June 30. Kraken also announced this week that it has expanded its tokenized stock offering to the Tron blockchain.
