Hong Kong blockchain gaming firm Animoca sets sights on recovery after listless 2023

Animoca’s bookings in the first quarter jumped 72 per cent to US$90 million, up from US$52 million in the same period last year

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Cyberport-based Animoca Brands is weighing its options for a potential public listing in 2025. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00pm, 11 Jul 2024

Hong Kong blockchain investment and video gaming firm Animoca Brands is looking at a recovery in 2024 after its fortunes took a tumble last year, as the collapse of a number of cryptocurrency enterprises set back the city’s nascent digital-asset market.

Animoca, which operates several non-fungible token games and has invested in hundreds of blockchain start-ups, on Wednesday reported that its 2023 bookings – including revenue and various digital-asset sales – totalled US$280 million, down 30 per cent from US$402 million in 2022, according to the company’s latest unaudited financial statement.

The firm attributed that decline to a slowdown of activity in the virtual-asset market and the fallout faced by crypto firms, following the high-profile meltdown of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the implosion of stablecoins such as TerraUSD and its sister coin Luna.

Animoca said its cash and stablecoin balance declined to US$175 million at the end of 2023, from US$194 million as of April 30 last year.

Still, the company’s situation appears to have recovered in the first quarter this year, according to its financial statement.