Animoca Brands — the company behind The Sandbox and one of the biggest names in NFT gaming — has pressed pause on its plan to go public on Nasdaq. The move scraps, for now, a merger that would have handed shareholders a 95 percent stake in a combined listed company, and it says a lot about where crypto markets stand right now.
By Jordan Lee | September 25, 2026
The Hook: The NFT Giant That Got Cold Feet
Earlier this week, Animoca Brands announced it has suspended its planned merger with Currenc Group, a company already listed on Nasdaq. The plan was a “reverse merger” — a shortcut to going public where a private company combines with one that is already traded, skipping the traditional IPO process. Under the deal, Currenc would have acquired Animoca, with Animoca’s shareholders owning 95 percent of the combined company, Cointelegraph reported.
Both sides said the decision was mutual, taken after reviewing market conditions and the deal’s projected closing timelines — corporate-speak for “the math stopped working and it was taking too long.” Animoca left the door open, saying discussions may resume if conditions permit.
If you have never heard of Animoca, you have almost certainly heard of its portfolio. The Hong Kong-based company is an investor in The Sandbox — the virtual-world game where players buy and sell digital land as NFTs — along with Moca Network and Open Campus. It is one of the loudest bets in the industry on the idea that gaming and digital collectibles, not trading charts, will bring regular people into crypto.
The Back Story: A Second Delisting That Never Quite Happened
Animoca’s relationship with stock exchanges is complicated. The company was previously listed on the Australian Securities Exchange but was removed in March 2020, back when crypto companies were treated as radioactive by mainstream regulators. The Nasdaq deal was supposed to be the redemption arc: a return to public markets through the front door, at a time when crypto has become a Wall Street theme rather than a taboo.
That context matters now. Executive Chairman Yat Siu framed the pause not as an abandonment but as a detour: “As we advance the comprehensive audit processes required to meet the rigorous compliance standards of a major public exchange, we will continue to pursue optimal routes to a public listing,” he said in the company’s announcement. Translation: the audit work continues, and Animoca still wants to list — just not via this deal, on this timetable.
The Core Conflict: Why the Crypto Treasury Boom Is Cooling
Animoca’s hesitation did not happen in a vacuum. The broader pattern this year tells the story:
- Crypto-linked stocks are losing their magic premium. Analysts at DWF note that the crypto treasury model — companies whose share prices rode on top of crypto holdings — is losing its edge as those premiums fade, meaning listed crypto vehicles no longer automatically command rich valuations.
- Regulators are watching listings closely. The comprehensive audit and compliance process Animoca cited is exactly the hurdle that has slowed other crypto listings as the SEC tightens standards.
- Markets are choppy. Bitcoin pulled back toward 83,706 USD this week after touching multi-month highs near 87,000 USD, and rate-hike expectations are making investors cautious across the board.
Put simply: going public is most attractive when the market pays a premium for crypto exposure. When that premium shrinks, the incentive to rush a listing shrinks with it.
Market Implications: What This Means for Your Wallet
Unless you hold Animoca shares privately, this news will not move your portfolio directly. But it sends three useful signals:
- NFT and gaming investors lose a liquidity benchmark. A listed Animoca would have given the industry a daily-priced reference point. Its absence keeps NFT valuations opaque — which cuts both ways for holders of assets like Sandbox land.
- Watch what companies do, not what they announce. A merger suspended “mutually” with an open-ended maybe is a softer signal than a cancellation — but deals that get paused in weak markets rarely return on better terms quickly.
- The listing pipeline still exists. Animoca is explicitly still pursuing a public debut. If it lands later through an IPO or a new merger, it would be a major sentiment event for NFT and gaming tokens.
The Verdict
Animoca pumping the brakes on its Nasdaq debut is less a vote against NFTs and more a vote for patience — a company deciding that being public in a cooling market with fading premiums is worth less than keeping its options open. For everyday investors, the takeaway is temperance: the NFT industry’s institutional moment is still coming, but this week it got postponed, and the calendar now matters less than the conditions. When crypto-linked stocks regain their shine, expect Animoca — and a queue of companies like it — to be back at the listing window.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
animoca scrapping a deal that gave holders 95% of a listed company says more about nasdaq appetite for NFT revenue than about animoca
if even the reverse merger door closes, what is left for web3 gaming, another SPAC era?
web3 gaming doesnt need nasdaq, it needs revenue. staying private until sandbox actually prints is the honest path
honest for who though. sandbox revenue stays private info, holders get nothing to underwrite the token with. opacity is not a strategy
revenue is the honest path until you remember token holders see none of it. sandbox printing cash while situ still trades like a 2021 relic is the actual story here
the relic line is brutal but accurate. revenue you have no claim on is just a screensaver for token holders
or the market window just closed. timing matters more than courage in these deals
cold feet right before a listing usually means someone took a second look at the books
everyone reads doom into the pause. could just as easily be currenc group failing diligence on their side, it takes two to scrap a merger
if currenc group failed diligence it would leak faster than this. silence usually means the target got cold feet
silence cuts both ways though. currenc has shareholders too, if diligence failed on their end it would surface eventually
diligence leaks happen fast yeah, but currenc group is barely covered by anyone. silence could just mean ndas all around
waiting for a better window makes sense for animoca, but situ holders just got their only exit delayed indefinitely. two years of copium and the door stays shut
animoca pausing the nasdaq merger right when NFT volume is slowly crawling back. either smart timing or they looked at the book and got scared
situ token holders been coping since 2022, this delay aint helping lol
situ was always a bet on an exit via the mothership, the token barely trades anywhere on its own. now even that door is on pause
Pulling a deal that would hand shareholders 95 percent of the listed entity tells you the valuation on the table was worse than staying private. Smart move honestly.
95 percent of the listed entity and they still walked. either the valuation on the table was insulting or the books had a flag in them
or currenc could not raise the cash to close. reverse mergers still need financing and the credit side got uglier after the hike
Agreed, and reverse mergers rarely price at a premium anyway. Currenc was a shortcut to a ticker, not a sweetheart deal for holders.
smart for animoca maybe, but staying private is easy to say when it is not your liquidity trapped. holders ate the downside either way
sandbagging the listing until NFT volume data looks less embarrassing for the roadshow deck. q1 numbers would have gotten shredded by analysts
no_spac_left a q1 deck with NFT volume flat for two years would have gotten shredded by sell side. pause until sandbox numbers can carry the story instead
Staying private while Sandbox prints revenue is fine until holders need liquidity. that 95 percent deal was the only exit on the table
Mei Tsuru holders needing liquidity is the whole problem though. sandbox printing revenue does nothing for a 2021 era investor whose only exit is a token down 95 percent
The 95 percent deal really was the only liquidity window for holders. Hard to picture Animoca offering terms like that again if markets stay shut into next year.
Exactly, and windows like that do not reopen on demand. If NFT volumes stay flat into 2027 this pause becomes a permanent no.