Animoca Hits Pause on Reverse Merger – But Its Public Listing Ambitions Aren’t Going Away

Animoca Brands has mutually suspended discussions with Currenc Group over a proposed reverse merger. The deal was first announced on November 3, 2025.

Both companies agreed to pause the talks after reviewing the expected timeline for completing the transaction and changes in market conditions.

Merger Talks on Hold

In its official blog post, Animoca Brands said the time needed to complete the deal does not currently fit its short- and medium-term strategic goals and added that the two sides may resume discussions if market and business conditions allow.

Despite the pause, the Web3 giant said it is currently working on its financial compliance and corporate governance plans. Animoca issued its audited financial statements for fiscal year 2023 on July 17, 2026. This was the company’s second set of audited financial statements released this year. It is now working on statements for fiscal year 2024.

According to Animoca, completing both reports is an important step in its efforts to meet the requirements for a future public listing. Meanwhile, co-founder and executive chairman Yat Siu stated,

“While we hold our proposed merger with Currenc Group in high regard, our corporate agility must take precedence. Today, we affirm our focus from a position of significant operational strength, an unmatched digital assets and AI portfolio, and a concerted drive to achieve our compliance milestones.”

Separately, Animoca Brands has also been involved in Hong Kong’s stablecoin push. In February 2025, it teamed up with Standard Chartered Bank HK and HKT to form a joint venture called “Anchorpoint Financial Limited.” In April 2026, the venture was granted one of Hong Kong’s first official stablecoin issuer licenses by the HKMA. Anchorpoint began the initial rollout of its regulated Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin named HKDAP for institutional investors in August.

Public-Market Push Slows

Animoca’s decision comes at a time when several major crypto firms have also slowed their listing ambitions in 2026. For instance, Kraken’s parent company, Payward, put its IPO preparations on hold in March, even after confidentially filing for a US listing in November 2025.

You may also like:

• Nasdaq Ventures to Invest $100M in Kraken Parent Payward at $21B Valuation
• Zcash (ZEC) Social Buzz Vanished Before Its ETF Even Launched: Data
• Grayscale’s Zcash ETF Starts Trading on NYSE Arca With a 2.5% Sponsor Fee

Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger followed in May, after pausing its IPO plans and turning to private funding instead. Similarly, asset management giant Grayscale also delayed the process around the same time.