There is so much innovation taking place in the world of technology as developers look to build the world of our future. From the blockchain and decentralized applications to NFTs, digital ownership, and an open metaverse, it’s enough to make your head spin, particularly if you’re new to the space.
Throw artificial intelligence into the mix, and understandably many people are genuinely worried about what’s happening. I always believe the best way to ease concerns and truly understand what’s going on in the world is to take stock, do some research, and get educated.
Yat Siu is an entrepreneur, investor, and business leader and has been the leading light in technological innovation when it comes to the online gaming space for the last 10 years, and as Chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, he is forging new ground in game development and the complex and often misunderstood world of NFTs.
For Yat and Animoca, the long-term goal is clear – to deliver true digital property rights to all while investing in companies that share similar values and the common goal to bring more equity to the future of games, while radically changing the future of how we live, play, and work for the better.
As a young boy, Yat showed early promise, developing software on an Atari ST, before that exact company actually approached him with an offer of work. He was just a teenager, but it signaled a lifelong love affair with technology and its potentiality that grows stronger to this day.
On moving to Hong Kong in the mid-nineties, Yat set up Hong Kong Cybercity, the first free web page, and email provider in Asia. From here, he founded Outblaze, a pioneering digital media development company that has been a global leader in Web 2.0 products ever since and offered the earliest version of cloud computing services.
Related: What is Web 3.0: A beginner’s guide to the decentralized internet of the future
At Animoca, he and his team developed gaming apps on the emerging smartphone market and racked up over 50 million downloads. Today, Animoca is forging a new world of digital entertainment. They were named in the Financial Times list of high-growth companies and are the standard bearers in their field.
To date, Animoca has invested in more than 380 companies, with the goal of building a true “open metaverse” based around blockchain technology, in which users can buy and trade digital assets in the form of NFTs.
Yat himself believes that NFT games are only scratching the surface of what’s possible and that in the future, completely new gaming models will be developed as a result of digital ownership. He also thinks that Web3 and crypto can save the capitalist narrative by reintroducing the value of democracy.
With the rapid emergence of AI unlocking the huge potential in Web3, the global metaverse market is set to become a multi-trillion-dollar economy, and Yat along with the team at Animoca are already paving the way.
Yat is an incredibly charismatic and engaging individual who is empowering innovation across the globe. He believes in openness and democracy and building a brave new future with shared ideals.
