Altcoin giant Animoca Brands aims to go public next year, listing will test investor appetite for exotic crypto assets

The planned public listing is notable because Animoca stands out from other recent crypto offerings, including Circle and Gemini, because its business does not revolve around exchanges or stablecoins.  Instead, the firm’s focus is in altcoins, or cryptocurrencies other than mainstays like Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Animoca has invested in over 600 blockchain companies, according to a statement released on Monday. Some of its most notable past investments include stakes in the failed metaverse platform Sandbox. 

“The proposed merger of Animoca Brands and Currenc will result in the world’s first publicly-listed, diversified digital assets conglomerate,” said Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands.

The deal is set to be finalized in 2026. Animoca’s shareholders will own 95% of the company and current shareholders of Currenc will own the other 5%, according to the statement.

Reverse mergers and SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, like the one Animoca is pursuing, have become one of the preferred ways for crypto companies to launch on the stock market. 

In late 2022, the stablecoin issuer Circle prepared to merge with a SPAC, only to see that plan fall through. And Securitize, the tokenization firm with ties to BlackRock, announced last week that it would go public via a SPAC of its own. And in May, American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency mining and holding company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., announced it was going public through a reverse merger with the company Gryphon Digital Mining. 

This is not Animoca’s first experience with public markets. It was previously listed on the Australian Securities Exchanges before being delisted in 2020 because of concerns about compliance with listing rules. 

The Animoca reverse merger coincides with a rough moment for altcoins, as the market has fallen $800 billion short of what past cycles would suggest. Retail investors in South Korea have flocked to crypto-linked equities instead, and last month’s flash crash put a dent in non-Bitcoin tokens. 

Despite altcoins’ shortcomings, investors have flocked to certain tokens, which have experienced an unprecedented surge under Donald Trump’s administration. Solana and Binance Coin both have notched all-time highs in the past year.