Robby Yung of Animoca Brands Discusses AI-Based Investing Strategies and U.S. Cryptocurrency Market Trends
During the 2025 Paris Blockchain Week, BeInCrypto sat down with Robby Yung, the CEO of Animoca Brands, a powerhouse in Web3 innovation. In a lively conversation, Yung dished on the Web3 landscape, investment strategies, regulatory shifts, the resilience of the Metaverse, and how Animoca is readying for a decentralized AI-driven future.
From the market dynamics post-US elections to the ambition-filled vision for Mokaverse and AI-powered investment tools, Yung offers an unvarnished look at where Web3's next chapter is headed.
Yung's Take on the Current US Market Climate
The global economy's in a bit of a tizzy right now, thanks to the President. But for the Web3 space, we're feeling pretty pumped for this year.
Last year ended strongly on positive sentiments due to the US elections' outcome. While we don't expect the US to become a wild crypto fan, it's not out of the question. More importantly, the elections meant the end to the US acting as a damper on crypto, suppressing innovation.
In the first three months of this year, we've seen the SEC stop most of its enforcement actions against Web3 companies. This freedom from US regulatory constraints is expected to stimulate innovation worldwide.
Crypto Regulations: US vs. EU
Regulatory arbitrage is a constant in business. The EU has been working on building regulations in this space for longer than the US, with MiCA as an example. Compared to the US, the EU is currently ahead in the game as a competitor.
The short-term scenario for the US isn't new regulations but a lack of enforcement. Basically, everyone's invited to give things a try, but without specific guardrails in place regarding regulatory frameworks. Still, there's a long road to legislation, even with the current US administration's enthusiasm.
Yung's Investment Philosophy
We're strategy-focused investors, with most capital coming from our balance sheets. Half of our activity happens from our balance sheet, investing broadly across categories like gaming, institutional financial services, and everything in between. We're interested in projects where we can provide support, help with tokenomics, marketing, user acquisition, liquidity, and aftermarket support.
Investment Structure at Animoca Brands
As strategic investors, we're also native Web3 investors. Our philosophy is that tokens are the embodiment of network effects. We always analyze the token strategy for each investment, but it's not always necessary for a company to have a token yet, provided there's a plan for tokenization. If there's no plan for tokenization, it's not really a Web3 business.
We're happy to invest in equity, but typical structures usually involve equity with a token warrant. This means investors in equity receive participation in future token launches. Or, if there's already a token or a token in the process of being launched, we can sign an agreement to invest in the token launch.
The Animoca Brands Team
We've got quite a sizable team. Investing-wise, we're approximately forty to fifty people. With a headcount of over a thousand overall, the group has become quite the behemoth. We can't handle every investee at once, so we prioritize helping the companies that need us most.
Valuing Token Holdings
Accounting gets confusing when it comes to tokens that we create versus tokens created externally. For example, we can value liquid tokens like Bitcoin at market value, but tokens like SAND (from the Sandbox game we created) on our balance sheet are zeroed out due to accounting rules deeming them to have no manufacturing costs.
Surviving the Metaverse Winter with The Sandbox
The metaverse was a buzzword in 2021 and 2022. The definition of metaverse, in my opinion, hasn't changed since then. It's the combined experiences we have in online spaces that are interconnected and interoperable.
The Sandbox isn't the metaverse; it's just one piece of the puzzle. It's a vibrant city within the larger world. Our goal is to make The Sandbox a popular spot, not just a small town.
Partnerships with intellection property providers have been key to The Sandbox's longevity. Having an established community of creators, players, and partners will ensure the platform's success.
Why The Sandbox Embraced Voxel Art Style
We chose the voxel art style for The Sandbox to support user-generated content (UGC) from day one. Building blocks like Legos make it simple for anyone, even a non-artist, to create engaging content.
Minecraft's success inspired us. The game inspired generations to create due to its simplistic building blocks, and we wanted The Sandbox to have a similar appeal.
Now, we're reaching a point where AI tools will enable more complex games and experiences in a Sandbox 2.0.
The Main Elements for a Successful Token Launch
Successful token launches are rare among millions due to complexity and multiple variables. Animoca built an entire services organization to help our projects succeed.
First, you need solid tokenomics to build projects based on open economies—a complicated task. These require significant expertise to execute correctly. Next, you need to build a community, onboard users, and have a marketing strategy. Then, consider wh polynomial distributing your token to different constituencies.
Finally, manage your token as a product in a live market and exchange. Think of a million-dollar business in terms of its token—it may also be a million-dollar product.
How Important is Community for a Token?
Community plays a huge role. Active trading equals liquidity, which increases a token's utility.
Consider the example of the housing market in Hong Kong. If you like a flat and it has high liquidity, you can make a deposit while visiting the property, knowing you can easily sell if needed. Low liquidity markets make buyers hesitant to invest due to the risk of being unable to sell.
Trickle-down Effect Within Crypto
Bitcoin was the leading indicator during the 2021 to 2022 crypto market run-up. When Bitcoin does well, other crypto projects benefit because people feel more confident about the sector. assets follow Bitcoin.
I'm not worried about Bitcoin's divergence from other altcoins since it represents the conservative nature of digital assets, reflecting broader economic uncertainty.
Excitement for the Mokaverse Project
We're putting a lot of work into the Mokaverse project, which aids network connectivity among Web3 builders. The project's roots as a community-led endeavor aim to create an NFT collection and token owned and used by all involved in our business ecosystem.
Mokaverse is evolving into a network of networks focused on linking various projects within the space. We're partnering with major networks like SK Planet (Korea) and Sony's new L1 blockchain (Soneium) to integrate their SDK and recognize existing ID systems for seamless user transitions.
Our underlying utility token, MOCA, powers the ecosystem. The token's value increases as usage and utility expand.
The Future of AI and Blockchain
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has taken most of the venture capital investment in the tech sector over the past 18 months. Animoca believes AI and blockchain are more impactful when combined, enhancing each other rather than operating separately.
The public announcement of the DeepSeek LLM model signals a decentralized, open-source future for AI models. Animoca advocates a collaborative, decentralized approach, given its Web3 roots.
Among our test projects, Hey Annie showcases an AI model trained on our investment activities over the last five to seven years. Our aim is to build an autonomous investing capability that amplifies human intervention.
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- The global economy is in turmoil due to the President's actions, but the Web3 space is optimistic for this year.
- Last year ended on a positive note for the Web3 space due to the US elections' outcome, although it's uncertain if the US will become a major crypto supporter.
- In the initial three months of this year, the SEC has stopped most of its enforcement actions against Web3 companies, stimulating innovation worldwide.
- The EU is ahead of the US when it comes to building regulations in the Web3 space, with MiCA as an example.
- The US's short-term scenario isn't new regulations but a lack of enforcement, with no specific guardrails in place regarding regulatory frameworks.
- Animoca Brands is a strategy-focused investor with most capital coming from its balance sheets, investing broadly across companies like gaming and institutional financial services.
- The investment structure at Animoca Brands often involves equity with a token warrant, meaning investors in equity receive participation in future token launches.
- The Animoca Brands team consists of approximately forty to fifty people for investing and over a thousand overall.
- Accounting gets complex when it comes to tokens; liquid tokens like Bitcoin are valued at market value, but tokens like SAND (from The Sandbox game) are zeroed out due to accounting rules.
- The Sandbox is not the metaverse; it's a vibrant city within the larger world, aiming to be a popular spot, not just a small town.
- Partnerships with intellectual property providers have been key to The Sandbox's longevity and success.
- Successful token launches are rare due to complexity and multiple variables; Animoca Brands built an organization to help projects succeed.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain are more impactful when combined, enhancing each other rather than operating separately, according to Animoca Brands.
