Animoca Brands has announced the appointment of Kensuke Amo as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) of their Japan subsidiary.

Amo officially became the new COO of Animoca Brands Japan on February 1st, bringing his expertise of creating and leading NFT businesses to the strategic subsidiary that is focused on helping Japanese IP holders expand into the growing world of Web3.

The division’s new COO had the following to say in the official announcement:

“I am very pleased to join Animoca Brands, one of the world's leading Web3 companies. Animoca Brands has a culture of open-mindedness, kindness, and good people who are straight-up about Web3 technology, and it is those qualities that I, as an outsider, found most wonderful as I collaborated with the company over the past 3 years. As a strategic subsidiary of Animoca Brands, Animoca Brands Japan will make the most of its assets and network, including its more than 400 portfolio companies, while combining its knowledge and experience in business and rule-making in the Japanese Web3 industry to help Web3 take root in society.”

About Kensuke Amo

Kensuke Amo is the author of “Textbook of NFT" and "Non Fungible Me" (Asahi Shinbun Publications Inc.). He started off his career with Recruit Co., Ltd. In 2007, where he gained substantial experience in business development. More than a decade later, he joined Coincheck, Inc. In 2018, where most of his work revolved around overseeing the business development department, managing new crypto assets, and more. Following his promotion to executive officer in 2020, Amo started building new businesses, including the first NFT marketplace for crypto asset exchangers in Japan as well as the first IEO in the same country. After serving as Representative Director of Coincheck Technologies, Inc. in 2021, Kensuke Amo became the Managing Executive Officer of Coincheck, Inc. In June 2022, where he led the metaverse business and NFT business, playing an important role in the expansion of The Sandbox and Otherside in Japan as part of a partnership signed by his company with Animoca Brands during 2020.

Next to being the new CEO of Animoca’s Japan division, Kensuke Amo is also an advisor of Japan Crypto Asset Business Association (JCBA), as well as the Shibuya-ku Startup Ecosystem, and more.

The CEO of Animoca Brands Japan, Daisuke Iwase, said the following in the press release:

“Until now, Animoca Brands Japan has played the role of connecting Japan and the rest of the world in the Web3 domain, such as overseas development of Japanese intellectual property and content (IP) and overseas IP development in Japan, in collaboration with partner companies. Now that the transient Web3 boom has passed and only the essentials remain, I look forward to working with Kensuke, who has continued to lead the fields of Crypto Assets, NFT, and Metaverse in Japan, and has launched and successfully led several businesses, to take on various challenges at Animoca Brands Japan.”

Near the end of last month, Animoca Brands announced a partnership with LightLink for gasless on-chain transactions, while its Japan subsidiary is collaborating with Honda and Darewise Entertainment to bring automotive gameplay to blockchain MMO Life Beyond.