Two years ago, the ASX decided that gaming company Animoca Brands did not meet the requirements of an ASX-listed company and kicked the Hong Kong-based company out due to their ties to cryptocurrency. At the time, they were valued at $120 million which was no big loss to the ASX, but fast-forward two years and those crypto ties have them valued at USD $5 billion (yes billion with a B), leaving the operator with egg on their face. 

The valuation (approx AUD $6.9 billion) comes following Animoca’s latest funding round, led by New York venture capital fund Liberty City Ventures with some high-profile investors keen to get in on Animoca’s plans to monetise digital real estate in the Metaverse. 

As reported by the AFR, some of the big investors that participated included George Soros’ Soros Funds Management, Alibaba’s Gobi Partners, growth equity fund 10T Holdings, the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini Frontier Fund and Winklevoss Capital, Sequoia China and south-east Asia focused Smile Group.

While Animoca’s original business had been established via mobile game development, the Company had dabbled in cryptocurrency and digital assets before they exploded into the mainstream. Those investments were subsequently reflected in their portfolio which has grown to include NFTs, of which Animoca’s collection of digital assets is believed to be worth $US15.9 billion at the end of November 2021. 

Driving the latest funding round was Animoca’s intentions to accelerate their leadership position in the NFT space by taking digital property rights to the Metaverse. 

Given the high standing of investors that jumped at the opportunity to access this technology via Animoca, the question has to be asked – how much has the ASX missed out on by delisting Animoca Brands? 

It’s a question that will haunt the ASX for many years to come, but having witnessed the astronomical rise of Animoca’s business with cryptocurrency as their rocket fuel, they have been more lax to some of of the other ASX-listed companies operating in the blockchain and crypto space. 

While the ASX still does not allow companies that operate predominantly in crypto to list in Australia, several listed companies are active in the space such as Raiz (ASX: RZI) which allows investors to invest in their Bitcoin portfolio and Security Matters (ASX: SMX) which is tagging products like NFTs. 

The company with a profile most similar to Animoca however, may be artificial intelligence company Crowd Media (ASX: CM8) which last month entered the metaverse with their first purchase of digital real estate. According to CEO Idan Schmorak, that was just the tip of an iceberg for Crowd’s plans where they specialise in digital avatars that look, sound and respond like the real person that was digitised via facial recognition, 3D imaging and voice cloning. 

“When it comes to digital worlds, I think there is a lot to do. We have Dominic Carosa with us [as a Director], who is a very influential character in the crypto world,” said Schmorak in a recent interview. 

“We are in unexplored water and besides the infinite business opportunities in the verticals that we are going to open there, it’s just exciting and fun.” 

‘Fun’ very much could be the flavour of Crowd’s intentions with the Company’s biggest project, their Talking Head platform, on track for commercialisation in 2022. Through the platform, Crowd is able to quickly create a digital avatar of any person that submits the required information, such as high quality images on their Facebook profile. From there, the platform can create a digital avatar which has the potential to be a digital asset (or NFT) whereby the avatar’s value is linked to the person it was cloned from. 

One example Schmorak used was the opportunity for Metaverse users to interact with celebrities or social influencers whose avatar interactions would be in high demand. The avatars could then be powered by Crowd’s AI to respond in real time, just like their original person would. 

“Imagine yourself going into the Metaverse to practice dating a person, which is a machine,” said Schmorak. 

“But this machine is so good that it gives you exactly the tools that you need for your confidence. You’re just sitting in front of a beautiful person and practicing to talk with them. 

“That’s the potential.”