Avalanche Secures Animoca Brands as Strategic Partner for Asia and Middle East Expansion
Through a strategic partnership with Ava Labs, Animoca Brands brings its decade-long institutional network in Asia and the Middle East to the Avalanche ecosystem.
Animoca Brands has made a strategic investment in AVAX and entered into a partnership with Ava Labs to support the growth of the Avalanche ecosystem.
Announced on March 19, 2026, the deal includes a direct token purchase along with advisory support, business development, and capital deployment into projects building on Avalanche. The focus is on real-world asset tokenization, digital identity, and entertainment. Terms were not disclosed.
We are starting to see more deals structured this way, where capital is paired with actual distribution and support instead of just passive investment.
About Animoca Brands
Founded in Hong Kong in 2014 by Yat Siu and David Kim, Animoca Brands began as a mobile game developer before pivoting to blockchain gaming and NFTs in 2018.
That move positioned it early in Web3, backing projects like Axie Infinity, OpenSea, The Sandbox, and Yield Guild Games before institutional interest picked up.
Today, Animoca operates as both an investor and builder, with over 600 portfolio companies across gaming, DeFi, digital identity, and infrastructure. It is best known for The Sandbox, and has also developed Moca Network and Open Campus.
In February 2026, it received a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from Dubai’s VARA and is preparing for a Nasdaq listing through a reverse merger with Currenc Group.
What stands out is its regional presence. With offices across Asia and the Middle East and established relationships with institutions and government counterparts, it offers access that goes beyond capital.
From what we have seen across the space, this kind of regional access is often the harder piece to replicate than funding.
What the Partnership Covers
The collaboration focuses on real-world assets, digital identity, and entertainment.
Animoca brings its network and relationships, while Ava Labs provides infrastructure and ecosystem support, with the aim of helping projects move toward commercial deployment.
Real-world assets appear to be the most immediate opportunity. Avalanche already hosts about $1.35 billion in tokenized assets, and institutional interest continues to grow. Animoca’s connections in real estate and financial services could help bring new issuers onto the network.
If there is going to be early traction from this partnership, it will likely show up here first.
Avalanche’s Layer 1 architecture allows institutions to deploy customized chains with specific compliance requirements while staying connected to the broader ecosystem through EVM compatibility.
Digital identity is likely a longer-term play. Animoca has been building through Moca Network, and Avalanche could serve as the infrastructure layer in regions where Animoca already operates.
Entertainment and gaming round out the partnership, aligning with Animoca’s core experience and Avalanche’s ability to support high-frequency activity.
Part of a Broader Institutional Pattern
The partnership comes as Avalanche expands its presence in institutional use cases.
In Japan, Progmat is migrating more than $2 billion in tokenized securities onto a dedicated Avalanche L1. In payments, TIS has launched a multi-token platform using AvaCloud. Ava Labs has also announced plans to open offices in Dubai and Singapore.
Animoca adds a different dimension. Instead of onboarding institutions one by one, Avalanche now has a partner with an active portfolio and existing regional network. This feels like a shift from one-off integrations toward something more coordinated at the ecosystem level.
Looking Ahead
Specific projects and timelines have not been announced.
The key signals will come from execution. This includes new launches tied to Animoca’s portfolio, especially in real-world assets and identity, as well as Layer 1 deployments in Asia and the Middle East. Another indicator is whether Animoca begins directing its portfolio companies toward Avalanche.
Until we see those signals, this is still more about positioning than proven outcomes.
The partnership aligns incentives on both sides. The next phase will show whether that translates into real activity.
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