YAT SIU

CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, ANIMOCA BRANDS FOUNDER AND CEO, OUTBLAZE

Yat Siu is a veteran technology entrepreneur and investor based in Hong Kong, and he is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, a Web3 company advancing digital property rights and the open metaverse.

In case you’re not up to speed with all the terminology, here is a quick summary of why this topic is so important to all of us - from casual gamers to high-end fashion designers. Web3 is a decentralized version of the Internet that is built on blockchains, which are distributed and decentralized databases. In simple terms, blockchains operate in a decentralized manner and represent a shift away from large centralized platforms, publishers, and similar companies (e.g., Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook / Meta).

Most people are familiar with blockchain technology through cryptocurrencies such as Ether or Bitcoin, and digital items called NFTs. What makes NFTs interesting is that they possess some characteristics normally associated with physical items, including authenticity, scarcity, ownership, provenance, and other properties that are independently verified and secured on blockchain.

Even more importantly, NFTs enable true ownership of your own digital assets, data, and equity. This is very different from most digital content and services today, which are temporarily provided to you on a licensing basis - such licensed digital content is, effectively, rented, not owned.

Put all of the above together and you have the movement for the open metaverse: a connected shared online universe that allows different platforms and users to interoperate, and that empowers its users with true ownership of their digital items and data unser a more democratic framework.

Since 2018, Yat has been an advocate for blockchain, NFTs, Web3, and the open metaverse. He built Animoca Brands from a small game developer into one of the global leaders of the Web3 space. Now valued in the billions of dollars, Animoca Brands operates several NFT-focused subsidiaries and products, and has invested in over 380 Web3-related companies to build one of the largest metaverse portfolios in the world.

And the world has certainly been taking notice. Most recently, on 12 February 2023, Animoca Brands collaborated with world-renowned Hong Kong designer Vivienne Tam and Hepha to bring the streets of Hong Kong to the New York Fashion Week runway show in a stunning virtual recreation of the city, adorned with a collection of famous rare NFTs.

The NFTs included Bored Ape Yacht Club, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats, Mocaverse, Meebit, and CryptoPunks - a veritable who’s who of the metaverse industry.

The audience admired the fashion of Vivienne Tam as the models walked down the runway, appearing to stroll out of Hong Kong’s urban streetscape with its famous trams, the legendary floating restaurant, eye-catching fluorescent signs, and some of the most loved and impactful NFT brands in the open metaverse.

For Yat Siu and Animoca Brands, such high-profile exposure is just the beginning. The company is producing a range of exciting products and services to help usher in the new digital future in ways we cannot even imagine today. You can learn more about Yat Siu and Animoca Brands by watching the episode of “A Moment of Xen” featuring Yat at https://youtu.be/MUs2XYHwxX0 and visiting www. animocabrands.com.