Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Yat Siu (Animoca Brands) on 200 billion AI agents, Europe's stablecoin risk, and why everything gets tokenized.
Yat Siu turned Animoca Brands from a mobile games studio into one of the world's largest Web3 investors: more than 600 portfolio companies, EBITDA-positive, with a US listing in the works. He tells Sascha Roehrer how Apple once wiped out Animoca's entire app business overnight, why CryptoKitties proved that people will pay for digital property, and why AI agents need wallets rather than bank accounts. He calls stablecoins one of the defining geopolitical questions of our time – with a clear risk for Europe. Plus: his forecast that at least a third of traditional assets will be tokenized within three to five years, what he looks for in founders today – and his wildest prediction for the next 20 years.
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:39 From MIDI Programmer to the Open Internet
00:04:39 Apple Pulls the Plug – the Road to Blockchain
00:07:09 Outblaze: 90M Users and an Exit to IBM
00:09:54 CryptoKitties: the $40 Million Proof
00:12:57 What Is an NFT?
00:14:30 Sandbox, Bored Apes, Digital Ownership
00:17:33 Market Cycles: From $500B to $2.2T
00:20:03 Tokenized Stocks and 24/7 Markets
00:23:08 From Game Studio to Ecosystem Investor
00:28:39 Animoca Today: 600+ Investments, Listing Plans
00:30:17 How Yat Evaluates Founders
00:32:46 Web4: AI Agents, Wallets, Machine Banking
00:42:07 Stablecoins, the GENIUS Act, Dollar Colonialism
00:45:24 Europe's Missing Nerve
00:50:51 Advice to Founders: Purpose Over Money
00:53:09 AI Makes Everyone a Programmer
00:57:35 The Human as Orchestrator
01:00:42 "Tokenize or Die"
01:03:14 Financial Literacy and the Stradivarius
01:06:53 Forecast: a Third of All Assets Tokenized
01:08:53 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana: Who Captures the Value?
01:10:57 Wildest Prediction: Dating via AI Agents
Guest:
Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands. He started at Atari Germany in 1990, founded Hong Kong Cybercity/Freenation – Asia's first free web page and email provider – and built Outblaze, an award-winning pioneer of multilingual white-label web services whose messaging unit was sold to IBM in 2009. An early advocate of NFTs in gaming since 2018, he has built Animoca Brands into one of the world's largest blockchain portfolios. He also founded the Dalton Learning Lab, serves on BAFTA's advisory board, and is a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/yatsiu
Website: animocabrands.com
deeptech Insights:
deeptech INSIGHTS is a long-form interview series for people who think about frontier technology and the future for a living. Host Sascha Roehrer sits down with executives, investors, researchers, and the people shaping what comes next. Produced by Börsenmedien AG, Germany's leading financial media house (DER AKTIONÄR, BÖRSE ONLINE, €uro, €uro am Sonntag).
Youtube English: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGwe6Ab4ZdSc
Youtube German: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvuwOqohiSw
Spotify English: open.spotify.com/show/033ONjPa8CuRZwJ0wZyWPz?si=c6fe9d33623e4418
Spotify German: open.spotify.com/show/033ONlTEHwbLHanLrQ6SeC?si=738da62560ed4cd7
Guest suggestions & feedback: team@deeptech-report.de
Note: The English version of this episode uses AI voice synchronization. (Art. 50 EU AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689)
This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Yat Siu (Animoca Brands) on 200 billion AI agents, Europe's stablecoin risk, and why everything gets tokenized.
Yat Siu turned Animoca Brands from a mobile games studio into one of the world's largest Web3 investors: more than 600 portfolio companies, EBITDA-positive, with a US listing in the works. He tells Sascha Roehrer how Apple once wiped out Animoca's entire app business overnight, why CryptoKitties proved that people will pay for digital property, and why AI agents need wallets rather than bank accounts. He calls stablecoins one of the defining geopolitical questions of our time – with a clear risk for Europe. Plus: his forecast that at least a third of traditional assets will be tokenized within three to five years, what he looks for in founders today – and his wildest prediction for the next 20 years.
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:39 From MIDI Programmer to the Open Internet
00:04:39 Apple Pulls the Plug – the Road to Blockchain
00:07:09 Outblaze: 90M Users and an Exit to IBM
00:09:54 CryptoKitties: the $40 Million Proof
00:12:57 What Is an NFT?
00:14:30 Sandbox, Bored Apes, Digital Ownership
00:17:33 Market Cycles: From $500B to $2.2T
00:20:03 Tokenized Stocks and 24/7 Markets
00:23:08 From Game Studio to Ecosystem Investor
00:28:39 Animoca Today: 600+ Investments, Listing Plans
00:30:17 How Yat Evaluates Founders
00:32:46 Web4: AI Agents, Wallets, Machine Banking
00:42:07 Stablecoins, the GENIUS Act, Dollar Colonialism
00:45:24 Europe's Missing Nerve
00:50:51 Advice to Founders: Purpose Over Money
00:53:09 AI Makes Everyone a Programmer
00:57:35 The Human as Orchestrator
01:00:42 "Tokenize or Die"
01:03:14 Financial Literacy and the Stradivarius
01:06:53 Forecast: a Third of All Assets Tokenized
01:08:53 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana: Who Captures the Value?
01:10:57 Wildest Prediction: Dating via AI Agents
Guest:
Yat Siu is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands. He started at Atari Germany in 1990, founded Hong Kong Cybercity/Freenation – Asia's first free web page and email provider – and built Outblaze, an award-winning pioneer of multilingual white-label web services whose messaging unit was sold to IBM in 2009. An early advocate of NFTs in gaming since 2018, he has built Animoca Brands into one of the world's largest blockchain portfolios. He also founded the Dalton Learning Lab, serves on BAFTA's advisory board, and is a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/yatsiu
Website: animocabrands.com
deeptech Insights:
deeptech INSIGHTS is a long-form interview series for people who think about frontier technology and the future for a living. Host Sascha Roehrer sits down with executives, investors, researchers, and the people shaping what comes next. Produced by Börsenmedien AG, Germany's leading financial media house (DER AKTIONÄR, BÖRSE ONLINE, €uro, €uro am Sonntag).
Youtube English: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGwe6Ab4ZdSc
Youtube German: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYvuwOqohiSw
Spotify English: open.spotify.com/show/033ONjPa8CuRZwJ0wZyWPz?si=c6fe9d33623e4418
Spotify German: open.spotify.com/show/033ONlTEHwbLHanLrQ6SeC?si=738da62560ed4cd7
Guest suggestions & feedback: team@deeptech-report.de
Note: The English version of this episode uses AI voice synchronization. (Art. 50 EU AI Act, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689)
This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
