<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Hong-Kong based firm Animoca Brands announced Thursday that it raised nearly $139 million total in its most recent funding round, according to a </span><a href="https://www.animocabrands.com/animoca-brands-completes-usd138888888-capital-raise-with-second-tranche-of-usd50000000"><span style="font-weight: 400;">company release</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Animoca provides </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/109960/decentraland-estate-that-sold-for-913000-will-become-a-virtual-shopping-district"><span style="font-weight: 400;">digital property rights</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> through non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain tech, giving gamers the ability to own or exchange digital assets or properties in </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/108940/an-estate-in-virtual-world-decentraland-just-sold-for-nearly-a-million-dollars"><span style="font-weight: 400;">video games</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Investors in Animoca’s most recent round include Coinbase Ventures, the investment arm of the crypto exchange giant Coinbase — the CEO of which had </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/100984/coinbase-brian-armstrong-music-nfts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">released his own NFTs</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Over Animoca investors include Blue Pool Capital, Liberty City Ventures, Korea Investment Partners, Gobi Partners, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Scopely, Token Bay Capital, and zVentures. </span></p> <p>The round was "conducted at a pre-money valuation of US$1 billion," per the firm.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are honored and excited to welcome strategic investors who offer powerful synergy and partnership opportunities,” said Yat Siu, co-founder and chairman of Animoca Brands, in the statement. “The strong demand we saw in this raise is a clear endorsement for Animoca Brands’ mission to deliver digital property rights to gamers and build the Metaverse.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Animoca intends on using the funds to finance new products, investments and acquisitions, and intellectual property licenses. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Previously, Animoca created </span><a href="https://www.animocabrands.com/blockchain-projects"><span style="font-weight: 400;">games</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> such as </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">F1 Delta Time</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a motorcar racing game licensed by the drag race association F1, and that uses the REVV ERC-20 token. Another is</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> The Sandbox, </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">a game with a Minecraft feel that allows players to own, trade, and sell digital assets created within the game as NFTs based on ERC-721 smart contracts. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Both of Animoca’s games appear to use NFTs derived from the Ethereum network, a process which has been </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/97799/artstation-nft-proof-of-concept-backlash"><span style="font-weight: 400;">criticized</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> as using too much energy and thus producing too much carbon, despite the true carbon cost of an NFT remaining </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/107461/the-carbon-footprint-of-nfts"><span style="font-weight: 400;">unknown for certain</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And yet, Animoca Brands’ unicorn valuation status, as well as other games companies like </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/103111/hasbro-nft-opportunities-ceo-comments"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hasbro</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> interested in non-fungible tokens, indicate that interesting NFT continues to persist.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To be sure, NFTs have not recovered from their </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/100240/did-we-already-see-the-peak-of-the-nft-boom"><span style="font-weight: 400;">February peaks</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in terms of trading volume, which had reached a historic high of $198 million, according to data compiled by The Block. </span></p>