Animoca to invest $30 million in crypto app hi

Animoca Brands, the Hong Kong-based web3 investment firm, today announced a strategic partnership with hi, a startup that bills itself as a web3 super app.

As part of the deal, Animoca said it will invest $30 million in hi — though it added that definitive terms are yet to be agreed.

Hi, which holds digital assets licenses in Lithuania and Italy, currently offers both exchange and digital banking-like services for crypto and fiat. Close to 3.5 million people have signed up to the service, hi claimed in today’s announcement.

Hi last year announced a debit card that could be customized with avatars in the form of NFTs — the first of which are due to ship this quarter. Animoca said in today’s announcement that it reckoned its hundreds of portfolio companies could benefit from the feature.

Proof-of-personhood

The pair of web3 firms will also work together to arm developers with what they call a “unique-human authentication mechanism,” using hi’s proof-of-human identity tools. The plan comes just days after Worldcoin, the proof-of-personhood project co-created by Sam Altman, finally launched its token.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said in a statement, “As part of this partnership we will collaborate with hi on its continued development of the hi App and the hi Protocol to drive positive impact for the broader Web3 ecosystem.”