Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu believes the Web3 industry will break the 1 billion user barrier within the next year. He shared this forecast during a conversation with Aaron Teng, CEO of Igloo Asia Pacific—the parent company behind Pudgy Penguins.
Yat Siu likened the current crypto market to the modem and Netscape era: “Slow, expensive, inconvenient.” While Web2 users are accustomed to instant transactions, Web3 still demands technical know-how.
“Sure, transactions in Web2 are instant, but there you are the product, not the owner,” he noted.
Siu is confident the financial upside outweighs the friction. People are willing to spend time ensuring security and asset value, just as they are willing to wait for a bank wire to process. The Animoca Brands chief predicted that once the mass market grasps the value of Web3, users will join regardless of clunky interfaces.
The End of the Grant Model
A key insight from the conversation is that the model of handing out free grants to developers has run its course. Siu bluntly stated that simply throwing money at problems does not work; instead, an ecosystem venture fund model is needed.
Teng confirmed the pivot. Igloo is preparing to launch the Pudgy Contributor program. Instead of grants, the company will invest in startups built by its own community members—the “Penguin Mafia.” Profits from these investments will go toward token buybacks and network development as the project attempts to build a closed-loop economy where capital remains within the system.
Decentralization as the Secret Sauce
According to Teng, a 5,000-strong army of holders drives Pudgy Penguins’ development. This sets the project apart from legacy media franchises like Disney or Nintendo, where IP is dictated from the top down. Teng believes this decentralized model is the secret to the brand’s survival and growth.
The ecosystem operates like a living organism. Any trend on social media is instantly seized by the community; memes and content are generated within minutes, leaving Igloo to simply steer the current. Meanwhile, the company maintains a rigid link to the blockchain, even while selling plush toys at Walmart. Retail serves merely as a funnel for onboarding users into crypto.
Plans for the New Blockchain
The Igloo team is launching its L2 blockchain, Abstract, with a focus on Consumer Crypto. Teng highlighted the influence of CEO Luca Netz.
“Netz came from the cutthroat world of e-commerce, where the color of a ‘Buy’ button can swing revenue by $10 M. This obsession with conversion can be applied to blockchain interfaces as well,” he emphasized.
Abstract is in its early stages but is already showing results. The mobile game Pudgy Party garnered 1 million downloads in a month. Traffic is also driven through partnerships with K-pop stars, such as the group TripleS. The project’s goal for the quarter is to bring major external brands onto the network.
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