Animoca Brands Yat Siu explains the Metaverse

In a virtual interview with Anthony Pompliano, the Founder of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu, expressed his position on the Metaverse and the guiding principles for his company's investment decisions. He was asked what he considers the Metaverse, given the term's various definitions and ambiguity.

He responded:

"The Metaverse is a place where we can actually own digital assets in which we have a stake and ownership."

According to him, the past 20-30 years have prepared us for the Metaverse because we have had to operate as virtual beings, from the earliest days of pre-internet services like Compuservice to the earlier forms of the internet, eventually to our current reality. There has been a steady transition from a small virtual experience to our current reality of total digital dependency.

Furthermore, Yat Siu expressed that his definition of the Metaverse contravenes some general conception that considers AR and VR as the Metaverse. He argues that this is not the case. Instead, these are tools that can be used to explore the Metaverse, but the Metaverse must involve true digital ownership, which can provide economic benefits to its users.

Meanwhile, while responding to questions on how geography influences investment opportunities, Yat Siu mentioned countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines that previously had severe challenges in accessing funding due to their locations but are now the hubs of creativity and innovation in the Metaverse. He highlighted that COVID19 changed the orientation of investors across the globe leading to the banishment of the location bias.

Finally, he expressed that Animoca Brands was founded from a deep-seated passion for growing the NFT ecosystem, and this belief influences their investment decisions.

The full interview can be accessed below: