Animoca's Yat Siu Sees Altcoin Upside Driving Crypto's Multi-Chain Future: A Strategic Pivot for Mainstream Exposure

Introduction

In a definitive statement on the trajectory of the digital asset market, Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu has articulated a compelling vision where altcoins collectively eclipse Bitcoin in performance, thereby fueling a multi-chain ecosystem. During an interview with Cointelegraph, Siu laid out his company's strategic ambition to become a primary vehicle for investors seeking diversified exposure to the broader crypto project landscape and the burgeoning altcoin market. This vision is set against the backdrop of Animoca Brands' planned public debut via a reverse merger next year, positioning the firm not just as an investment powerhouse but as a bellwether for the industry's evolution. By framing Bitcoin as digital gold—a stable reserve asset—and altcoins as the dynamic engines of utility, from Web3 gaming to decentralized finance (DeFi), Siu provides a clear-eyed framework for understanding the next phase of crypto adoption. This perspective challenges the maximalist narrative and underscores a fundamental shift towards a diversified, application-driven future.

The Altcoin Thesis: Outperforming Bitcoin as a Collective

Yat Siu’s core argument rests on a macroeconomic analogy that resonates with traditional finance observers. “We believe that altcoins, ultimately, over the largest space, are going to outperform Bitcoin as a collective,” Siu stated. He elaborated by comparing Bitcoin (BTC) to gold, noting that while no single company surpasses gold’s total market capitalization, the aggregate value of all public companies is “roughly five to six times gold.” This analogy is pivotal. It positions Bitcoin as a foundational, store-of-value asset—critical for stability but limited in its direct utility for everyday applications. In contrast, the universe of altcoins represents the vast array of companies and projects building on that foundation.

Siu acknowledged that individual altcoins may not possess the perceived longevity of Bitcoin, and their values can fluctuate dramatically. However, he emphasized that as a whole, this ecosystem can experience significant growth. “They can go ‘up and down as a whole,’” he said, suggesting that the collective upside potential of thousands of innovative projects outweighs the more conservative growth trajectory of a single dominant asset. This collective performance thesis is central to Animoca's strategy, moving the focus from betting on one winner to capturing the growth of an entire sector.

Beyond Speculation: The Utility-Driven Case for Altcoins

A key differentiator in Siu’s outlook is the emphasis on utility over pure speculation. He directly addressed the motivation for entering the crypto space, stating, “We don’t join crypto because we want to hold Bitcoin, only holding Bitcoin as a reserve asset, but I don’t use it, right?” This statement highlights a fundamental evolution in the industry. While Bitcoin serves as a robust savings technology, the day-to-day functionality of the digital economy is being built on altcoins.

Siu pointed to the vast utility being developed across the industry, specifically naming “Web3 games to gas fees to DeFi and DePIN” (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks). Every interaction within these ecosystems—executing a smart contract, paying a transaction fee, earning play-to-earn rewards, or providing network bandwidth—typically requires a specific altcoin or token. “All of these applications are actually altcoins,” Siu noted, extending this definition to even include memecoins, which he described as being part of the classical definition “to a lesser extent, but perhaps even more meaningfully.” This inclusive view captures the entire spectrum of crypto assets beyond Bitcoin, framing them as the essential fuel for a functioning decentralized internet.

Animoca’s Investment Blueprint: Capturing the Early Internet 2.0

To contextualize Animoca Brands' ambitious strategy, Yat Siu drew a direct parallel to one of the most lucrative investment opportunities in modern history: the dawn of the commercial internet. He compared Animoca’s investment approach to the chance investors had in the early 2000s to invest across a wide group of the “biggest and most interesting” internet companies, such as Amazon, Google, eBay, and Alibaba. At that time, it was nearly impossible to predict which single company would achieve dominance, but an investor with a diversified portfolio across the sector would have captured monumental returns.

Animoca Brands aims to be that diversified portfolio for Web3. “We feel that we’re pretty well positioned for that,” Siu said, adding a crucial distinction from the Web2 era: the crypto industry probably won’t have a “winner-takes-all” altcoin or project. The interoperable, multi-chain nature of blockchain technology suggests a future with multiple successful networks and applications coexisting and complementing each other. Therefore, Animoca’s goal is not to find the one winner but to ensure its portfolio is “large enough to capture some of those winners.” This strategy mitigates risk while maximizing exposure to the sector's overall growth potential.

A Deep Dive into Animoca’s Diversified Portfolio Strategy

The execution of this vision is evident in Animoca Brands' extensive and carefully segmented investment portfolio. The company does not concentrate its bets but spreads them across the most promising verticals within Web3. According to data provided by Animoca Brands:

• Gaming: The majority of its investments are in gaming-related projects, with 230 out of 628 invested companies falling into this category. This aligns with Animoca's origins and core expertise in digital entertainment and underscores its belief in gaming as a primary driver for mass adoption.
• Infrastructure & Emerging Tech: Beyond gaming, there is a growing amount invested in Infrastructure (the foundational layers of Web3), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Decentralized Finance (DeFi). This balanced approach ensures that Animoca is not only investing in end-user applications but also in the critical technologies that enable them.

This diversified treasury strategy allows Animoca to gain exposure to high-potential altcoins at much earlier stages and more favorable valuations than are available to the general public. Siu emphasized this advantage, noting that they are “passing on that benefit” to their shareholders. As Animoca moves towards its public listing via a reverse merger with the AI-focused public fintech company Currenc Group, this strategy transforms the company into a unique equity product—one that offers indirect, diversified exposure to a vast array of pre-vetted altcoin projects.

The Path Forward: Public Markets and The Multi-Chain Imperative

The planned Nasdaq listing next year is more than just a corporate milestone; it is a strategic maneuver to bridge traditional finance with the digital asset world. By going public through a reverse merger with Currenc Group, Animoca Brands is creating an accessible on-ramp for traditional investors who may be hesitant to navigate cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets directly. They can instead buy shares in a publicly traded company that holds a massive, professionally managed treasury of altcoins and equity in hundreds of crypto-native companies.

This move solidifies the "multi-chain future" that Siu's thesis depends on. A future dominated by a single blockchain would contradict the need for a diversified portfolio across various ecosystems. Animoca’s investments span multiple blockchains and layer-2 solutions, inherently betting on an interconnected landscape where different networks serve different purposes. Their strategy validates the idea that value and innovation will continue to proliferate across Ethereum competitors like Solana and Avalanche, gaming-specific chains, and emerging AI-integrated networks, rather than consolidating onto one platform.

Conclusion: A New Paradigm for Crypto Investment

Yat Siu’s commentary provides a coherent and strategically sound narrative for crypto’s next chapter. By positioning Bitcoin as digital gold—a critical but static component—and altcoins as the dynamic vehicles for utility and growth, he offers a nuanced understanding that moves beyond tribalistic debates. The comparison to investing in the early internet landscape is particularly powerful, providing a familiar framework for both crypto natives and traditional finance entrants to grasp the opportunity.

The broader market insight here is clear: value accretion in crypto is shifting from store-of-value narratives to utility-based metrics. As decentralized applications in gaming, social media (DeSo), DeFi (Decentralized Finance), and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) mature and attract users, their underlying tokens will inevitably capture more value. For readers and investors watching this space unfold, the key takeaway is to monitor not just price charts but also adoption metrics—daily active users, transaction volumes, and total value locked—across these diverse altcoin ecosystems.

As Animoca Brands progresses toward its public listing, it will serve as a live case study for this very thesis. Investors should watch how its diversified altcoin treasury performs relative to broader market indices and single-asset strategies. Yat Siu and Animoca Brands are not merely predicting a multi-chain future driven by altcoins; they are building a financial vehicle designed to navigate and profit from it.