Animoca Co-founder Yat Siu: 2026 to Become the Year of Functional Tokens, Crypto Industry Must Mature

In a recent statement, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu stated that 2025 will be remembered as the 'Trump year,' not because of its positive impact on the crypto industry, but due to market over-speculation on political expectations, leading to pressure on risk assets. Siu pointed out that the 'crypto trading' surrounding Trump did not materialize as expected, and 2026 will force the industry to shift towards compliance and real-world applications.

Siu believes that the key theme of 2026 will be the institutionalization and functionalization of the crypto industry. With regulatory frameworks like the Clarity Act and GENIUS Act becoming clearer, traditional institutions and large enterprises will be more motivated to enter the crypto market. Market focus will shift from speculative tokens and meme coins to functional tokens with clear use cases. He noted that the recent meme coin frenzy consumed a lot of retail liquidity and prompted the industry to reflect.

On the capital market front, Siu revealed that Animoca plans to go public through a reverse merger with NASDAQ-listed fintech company Currenc Group, positioning itself as a public market vehicle for 'shitcoin exposure,' offering investors a broader exposure to Web3 and shitcoin combinations than single underlying public chain tokens. He emphasized that as token issuance and trading rules become clearer, tokenization of real-world assets and security tokens will become important bridges connecting traditional finance with the on-chain economy.

Siu concluded that with the increase in regulatory certainty and market structure changes, the crypto industry can no longer rely on narratives and speculation-driven growth. 2026 will be a turning point focused on real-world utility and user value.

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