Animoca Brands makes a $30M strategic investment in Web3 Neobank hi

The metaverse gaming behemoth, Animoca Brands, has set its eyes on hi, the Web3 neobank. Announcing a staggering $30 million investment in the financial app, the aim is to boost the NFT utility in the financial industry.

Funding the development of new products

Animoca Brands, well known for its popular Ethereum-based metaverse game The Sandbox, sees immense potential in hi, which made waves after partnering with Mastercard to launch crypto-themed debit cards.

Sean Rach, the co-founder of hi, said the partnership would bring several benefits to users, including enabling direct transactions using Animoca Brands tokens like SAND, EDU, APE, REVV, and GMEE through the hi Debit Cards.

The impressive $30 million investment is expected to foster the enhancement of hi’s existing products and the development of new ones. Corporate accounts might also become a part of hi’s offerings, with Animoca’s significant presence in Latin America potentially opening doors to fresh markets.

Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, stated that the company will work closely with hi on the continued development of the hi App and the hi Protocol.

hi Neobank: All the right moves in all the right places

Since the introduction of digital assets over a decade ago, consumers have grappled with the switch between fiat and digital currencies. hi aims to address this friction by building an all-in-one service where savings, investments, and payments converge. The platform has already made impressive strides, with close to 3.5 million users, a million of which have undergone KYC checks.

Both companies see the hi Protocol—a layer-2 solution for Ethereum—as a significant area for adding value. They have expressed a commitment to provide developers with a unique mechanism for authenticating humans, similar to the recent Worldcoin project. Rach described this as akin to a “Google login for Web3.”