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Speaking with Cointelegraph, Animoca co-founder Yat Siu noted that given the sources anonymity, it makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who or what the source or agenda is. 4115 Total views 13 Total shares Listen to article 0:00 News Own this piece of history

Collect this article as an NFT Venture capital firm and Web3 game developer Animoca Brands has refuted claims that it scaled back its metaverse fund target by $200 million, or 20% to $800 million, amid volatility in the crypto market and instability in the banking sector.

The firm also downplayed suggestions that its valuation has plummeted from $6 billion as of July 2022 to roughly $2 billion in March 2023.

Stemming from a March 24 Reuters reportcitinganonymous people familiar with the matter, it was claimed that Animoca initially halved its $2 billion metaverse fund target in January, and recently cut itanother 20% to $800 million.

The fund in question was announced in November 2022to allocate capital to mid-to-late-stage startups with a metaverse focus. At the time, Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu outlined that the fund target was between $1 billion and $2 billion, depending on how much capital was raised.

In a public statement shared with Cointelegraph, Animoca stated that the claim that the Animoca Capital fund target was cut from $2 billion to $1 billion is not correct, because $1 billion has always been within the range declared.

The firm did acknowledge that the banking collapses in the United States have, of course, had an impact but stressed that the final amount raised for the fund has yet to be determined.

Theres no doubt that the FTX and banking crises have had a serious impact on available venture capital, but fundraising for the Animoca Capital fund is in progress. When the raise is concluded, we will inform the market with the appropriate details, including the final size of this fund, the firm stated.

Commenting on the leaked information, Siu told Cointelegraph that given the information came from unnamed sources, it makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who or what the sources and agenda are, which is unfortunate.

“Angry Birds was not created by Activision.” @viewfromhk, CEO of @animocabrands, explains in our exclusive chat at @ParisBlockWeek that major game companies don’t always drive innovation.

Is it time for a new generation of game developers to shine in Web3? #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/UwcujLeGYY Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 22, 2023

Concerning the companys valuation, Animoca asserted that the figures reported by Reuters and an additional two other unnamed people cited were inaccurate.

Animoca, which trades as AB1, was initially listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) in the firms early days. However, AB1 was delisted back in March 2020 due the ASXs assertions that Animoca had breached its listing rules by being involved in crypto-related activities, among other things.

Since then, its shares have traded on unlisted stock-focused exchanges such as the Sydney-based PrimaryMarkets.

Related No shortage of passion in the Parisian people for PBW amid protests Animoca Brands CEO

The data from this platform was used to calculate a total market cap of AB1 at around roughly $2 billion. However, Animoca argues that these figures dont fully represent the companys total valuation. AB1 stock price. Source: PrimaryMarkets

The claim […] that Animoca Brands now trades its shares on PrimaryMarkets is not technically correct. We terminated our arrangement with PrimaryMarkets in the second half of 2020, but PrimaryMarkets chose to continue to trade Animoca Brands shares on its platform, the firm stated, adding that: We do not consider the thin trading activity on PrimaryMarkets to accurately reflect the companys value. Trading volume is far too low to provide the price accuracy you would find on an actual primary market. #Business #Funding #Stocks #Games #Metaverse #Blockchain Game #Web3 #Gaming

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Oasis ‘shocked and saddened’ after man dies at Wembley Stadium concert

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Oasis 'shocked and saddened' after man dies at Wembley Stadium concert

Oasis have said they are “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley Stadium concert on Saturday.

Together with their bandmates, Liam and Noel Gallagher have offered their “sincere condolences to the family and friends of the person involved”.

Metropolitan Police said officers on duty at the stadium responded, alongside venue medics and the London Ambulance Service, to reports a person had been injured at around 10.20pm.

The statement continued: “A man – aged in his 40s – was found with injuries consistent with a fall. He was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.”

According to media reports, the man fell from the stadium’s upper tier.

A concertgoer on social media said they saw the incident and described it as “horrific”.

Oasis on stage. Pic: AP
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Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage at their first reunion gig. Pic: AP

Metropolitan Police said: “The stadium was busy, and we believe it is likely a number of people witnessed the incident, or may knowingly or unknowingly have caught it on mobile phone video footage.

“If you have any information that could help us to confirm what happened, please call 101.”

Oasis performed at the venue as planned on Sunday night, delivering the final concert of a five-night run at Wembley.

Addressing fans at the stadium, singer Liam said: “This one’s for all the people who can’t be here tonight, but who are here if you know what I mean, and aren’t they looking lovely. Live Forever.”

The band then played the track of the same name.

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Oasis support act Richard Ashcroft paid tribute on Instagram, writing: “I was shocked to hear of the death of one of the audience last night sending my love to the family and friends.”

A spokesperson for Wembley Stadium said: “Our thoughts go out to his family, who have been informed and are being supported by specially trained police officers.”

They will then head to Scotland, Ireland, Canada and the United States, before returning to Wembley for two more dates in September.

The reunion tour began at the start of July and marks the Gallagher brothers’ first performances together since Oasis split acrimoniously in 2009.

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Soulja Boy arrested on suspected weapons charge during traffic stop

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Soulja Boy arrested on suspected weapons charge during traffic stop

Soulja Boy has been arrested and charged with possession of a firearm during a traffic stop.

The rapper, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was a passenger in the car that was stopped in the Fairfax area of Los Angeles early on Sunday morning, the LAPD said.

“A passenger was detained and police arrested DeAndre Cortez Way for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm,” the statement added.

Possessing a firearm as a convicted felon is a felony.

The 35-year-old was booked into jail in the LAPD’s Wilshire Division shortly after 6am. It is not clear if he has since been released.

Police did not provide information on what prompted the traffic stop and who else was in the vehicle with Way.

Soulja Boy is yet to publicly comment on the incident.

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Soulja Boy is best known for his 2007 hit Crank That, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks and landed him a nomination for best rap song at the Grammys.

The rapper was arrested and charged with a felony in 2014 for carrying a loaded gun during a traffic stop in LA.

In April this year, the Chicago hip-hop artist was ordered to pay more than $4m (£3m) in damages to his former assistant after being found liable for sexually assault, as well as physically and emotionally abusing them.

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Trump’s penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

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Trump's penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India is navigating a tricky balancing act after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “penalty” over its continued imports of Russian oil — a trade that New Delhi appears reluctant to end anytime soon.

Despite Trump telling reporters Friday that he “heard” India would halt purchases, officials in New Delhi have remained noncommittal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the country decides its energy import sources “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”

“The Indians must be having some confusion” following Trump’s threat — a reversal from the more tolerant approach taken under the Biden administration, Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“Now we’re flipping around and saying, ‘What are you doing taking all this Russian oil?'” McNally said.

In March 2022 — a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Daleep Singh, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics in the Biden administration, reportedly said that “friends don’t set red lines” and “there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia.” 

“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh said.

On July 30, Trump announced that India would face a 25% tariff beginning Aug. 1, along with an unspecified “penalty” for buying Russian oil and military equipment.

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But analysts suggest that India, which is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, isn’t blinking. Reuters reported that there are no immediate changes planned to India’s long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, citing two anonymous Indian government sources that did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Russia has become the leading oil supplier to India since the war in Ukraine began, increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion, or a 2.5% share of total imports, to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, or 39%. According to the International Energy Agency, 70% of Russian crude was exported to India in 2024.

India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended New Delhi’s actions in a July 10 interview with CNBC, saying that it helped stabilize global prices and was even encouraged by the U.S.

“If people or countries had stopped buying at that stage, the price of oil would have gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a situation in which we were advised, including by our friends in the United States, to please buy Russian oil, but within the price cap.”

Russian oil exports had been capped at $60 per barrel in December 2022 by the Group of Seven nations, representing the world’s top economies, while the European Union had lowered the price cap to just above $47 per barrel in July.

Still, pressure is mounting. Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director at Mizuho Securities, said that the U.S. threats present a “clear and present danger” to India. He said that New Delhi is likely to remain non-committal on oil purchases as it assesses the trade-offs of this “Russia option” as a bargaining chip.

India will need to scour the global market for comparable oil bargains with Russian oil, Varathan, who is also the head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, added.

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New Delhi could explore alternatives, including Iran — if an exemption from the U.S. can be negotiated — as well as a few other producers “either within or outside of the OPEC+ that have been pressured by the U.S,” Varathan said.

The OPEC+ bloc had agreed on Sunday to raise output by 547,000 barrels per day in September, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.

India is going to face a tough choice, Rapidan’s McNally said.

“Trump is serious. He’s frustrated with Putin… India is going to have a tough choice to make, but it’s hard to see them continuing to import that a million and a half barrels [of] Russian crude if Donald Trump decides to really put the whole relationship on the line over it.”

India's purchases of Russian oil helped to stabilize global oil prices: Hardeep Singh Puri

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