Animoca Brands has announced a major partnership with Antler’s corporate innovation arm, Ibex Japan, to launch a new Web3 entertainment investment fund dedicated to bringing Japan’s iconic anime and manga intellectual property onchain. The announcement came Tuesday at the WebX conference in Tokyo, where Animoca co-founder Yat Siu, senior adviser Keyvan Peymani, and Ibex Japan partner Sandeep Casi unveiled details of the plan.

According to Casi, between 90% and 99% of Japan’s vast creative IP library remains dormant, representing enormous potential for digital transformation. With Antler’s global network across 22 cities, $1.2 billion in assets under management, and access to more than 250,000 entrepreneurs, the fund aims to scale Japanese IP to global audiences through Web3.

Siu explained that Animoca already operates locally through its subsidiary ABKK, but this move will push Japanese IP beyond gaming into fintech, healthcare, and medtech applications. Casi and Peymani will serve as co-general partners of the fund, which will focus on licensing underutilized IP and investing in new Web3 products and services. Initial projects are expected to be announced in the coming months.

The timing is critical as NFTs see a strong resurgence. Data from NFT Price Floor shows market capitalization climbing to $9.3 billion on August 13, a 40% jump from July’s $6.6 billion, signaling renewed investor confidence.

Meanwhile, in the United States, crypto exchange Kraken met with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force this week to discuss its tokenized trading system. The talks covered legal frameworks and the benefits of tokenization. Kraken has been expanding its tokenized stock offerings, recently adding support on the Tron blockchain after launching its 24/7 equities trading service for non-US investors earlier this year.