Animoca Brands Invests $30 Million in Crypto Payments App: NFTs Get a Boost

Metaverse gaming and venture capital giant, Animoca Brands, has made a significant investment of $30 million into hi, a Web3 payments application and protocol. This strategic partnership aims to bring utility to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) across Animoca Brands' portfolio companies and the wider Web3 ecosystem. Hi operates as a neobank, offering digital-only banking services that allow users to transact in both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. In the past, hi collaborated with Mastercard to issue debit cards that featured customizable NFT imagery, adding a unique touch to traditional banking services. The funding infusion from Animoca Brands will be used to scale hi's app and prepare for the mainnet launch of its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible hi Protocol. By leveraging Animoca Brands' extensive network, hi aims to integrate its payments infrastructure seamlessly into its portfolio companies and across the broader ecosystem. One of the critical challenges in the crypto space is distinguishing genuine human users from bots and fake accounts. Hi addresses this issue by planning to implement a Proof of Human Identity (POHI) as part of its know your customer (KYC) process. This POHI implementation will help ensure that addresses within the hi ecosystem are unique and genuine, mitigating the risk of bot-driven activities. Currently, hi boasts 3.5 million total users, with one million of them already KYC'd. With the introduction of POHI, hi aims to expand its user base significantly, targeting growth in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and eventually the United States (subject to regulatory clarity). The blog also highlights the renewed discussion surrounding crypto and identity, triggered by the launch of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s Worldcoin project. Worldcoin uses iris scans for KYC purposes, which has raised privacy concerns among some prominent figures, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. In conclusion, the collaboration between Animoca Brands and hi brings new opportunities for the NFT space, offering enhanced utility and accessibility to users within the Web3 ecosystem. By focusing on genuine user identity through the POHI implementation, hi aims to create a secure and thriving environment for its growing user base. However, the broader crypto community continues to grapple with the challenge of striking a balance between privacy and compliance in identity verification.