- Animoca Brands acquired an undisclosed stake in AVAX and partnered with Ava Labs.
- Partnership focuses on tokenization, digital identity, and entertainment.
- Animoca will provide regional distribution and institutional relationships; it holds a VARA VASP licence.
- Avalanche lags peers on tokenized assets and DeFi TVL; AVAX market cap is around $4.1 billion.
Animoca Brands has taken a strategic stake in AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche blockchain, and entered a formal partnership with Ava Labs, the company behind the network. The deal is focused on expanding Avalanche’s presence across Asia and the Middle East, the two firms announced Thursday.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Under the agreement, Animoca will provide capital alongside strategic, advisory, and business development support to projects building on Avalanche.
The Hong Kong-based firm, which holds hundreds of Web3 companies in its portfolio and maintains established institutional and government relationships across both regions, had already held AVAX before formalizing this deeper commitment. Ava Labs said those connections offer a direct channel for routing builders and enterprises to the chain.
Expanding Regional Presence
Animoca arrives with its regulatory groundwork already in place. The firm secured a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority in February, giving it formal standing in the Gulf to complement its existing Asian infrastructure.
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The partnership’s scope covers real-world asset tokenization, digital identity frameworks, and entertainment sectors, where both companies see near-term institutional demand.
Ava Labs is moving on a parallel track. The company has announced plans to open regional offices in Dubai and Singapore, positioning itself closer to the sovereign and enterprise clients whose networks it is increasingly built to serve.
A Competitive Gap That Still Needs Narrowing
The announcements arrive as Avalanche contends with a significant TVL deficit relative to its main rivals. Total value locked on the network sits at approximately $1.9 billion, well below Ethereum’s $136 billion and Solana’s $18 billion.
Tokenized real-world assets on Avalanche total around $1.3 billion, compared with $15.7 billion on Ethereum. AVAX currently ranks 26th by market capitalization at roughly $4.1 billion, with the token trading near $9.50.
Separately, Avalanche this week announced a partnership with advertising technology firm The Trade Desk, extending its enterprise reach beyond financial services. Ava Labs has framed Animoca’s investment as a proof-of-concept effort to demonstrate Avalanche’s institutional capabilities and broaden adoption. Whether the regional push translates into measurable on-chain growth will become clearer over the coming quarters.
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