Animoca Brands teams with Sony’s Soneium blockchain for anime digital IDs

Animoca Brands has teamed up with Sony’s Soneium blockchain to create decentralised digital IDs for Web3, integrating anime artworks.

Animoca Brands teams with Sony’s Soneium for anime digital IDs Pic via Getty Images.

• Animoca Brands and Sony’s Soneium blockchain are bringing anime culture into the web3 world

• Animoca Brands’  Moca Network and anime Web3 initiative San FranTokyo will spearhead the facilitation of new anime-themed digital IDs onto Soneium

• The respective companies see anime and manga as a cultural phenomenon that has ‘immense potential’ on the open internet

 

Special Report: Animoca Brands has teamed up with Sony’s Ethereum layer 2-based Soneium blockchain to build a decentralised digital identity layer for Web3 integrating anime artworks.

Animoca Brands , a leading Web3 company focused on facilitating and promoting  digital property rights for consumers through tokenisation and blockchain technology, late last week announced a significant strategic partnership with a blockchain entity developed by one the world’s biggest tech companies.

The partnership is with Soneium, a layer 2 open blockchain (a tech stack built on top of Ethereum) developed by Sony and powered by Optimism's Superchain technology.

Animoca Brands’ flagship digital identity Web3 infrastructure platform, Moca Network, will be the tech stack/conduit through which a special identity layer is created for the Soneium blockchain. One that will have the added head-turning aspect of anime artwork, dubbed Anime ID.

Bringing anime and manga along for the Web3 ride

Along with the Moca Network’s critical involvement, the Anime ID initiative is being spearheaded by San FranTokyo, an outfit set on integrating traditional anime and manga culture with decentralised technologies.

Anime ID will be a decentralised identifier (DID) and ‘reputation layer’, serving to enhance blockchain user engagement and enable various partners using the Soneium blockchain to issue and verify data credentials.

The attraction of Anime ID for Soneium, is that it is designed to enhance the huge global audience of anime fans’ engagement on the blockchain.

And, to amplify this further, San FranTokyo will work with Animoca Brands to launch anime-inspired cultural campaigns to help onboard anime fans to the Soneium blockchain and connect with new anime-themed experiences.

The Moca Network and Soneium integration

How the Moca Network adds its unique value in this collaborative effort is through its Account, Identity and Reputation SDK (AIR SDK) features, which will be integrated into Soneium.

What this will do is enable users to maintain embedded accounts, unique identities, and credentials as they explore various decentralised apps on Soneium.

Soneium is developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs (SBSL), a joint initiative established by Sony Group Corporation and Startale Group.

Like Animoca Brands and its Moca Network, Sony/Startale is focused on pushing the  boundaries of the ‘open internet’ – essentially the ideals of Web3 – a decentralised, censorship-free, accessible and less-restrictive/walled version of the internet as we have previously known it (aka Web2).

Anime’s ‘immense potential’

Commenting on the new strategic partnership, Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, said: “Our partnership with Soneium marks a significant step towards an interconnected Web3 future.

“By integrating Moca Network's identity infrastructure, we're not just enhancing entertainment experiences; we're creating a seamless digital ecosystem.

“The partnership will empower Soneium users with unified digital identities, bridging anime, gaming, and blockchain technologies.”

Jun Watanabe, chairman of Sony Block Solutions Labs of Soneium, meanwhile commented: “Our partnership with Animoca Brands enables us to establish an identity and reputation layer on Soneium.

“As one of the largest entertainment industries, anime presents immense potential.”

Annual Revenues climb

The latest key product development follows the release earlier in March of Animoca Brands’preliminary unaudited financial statements for the full year ended 31 December 2024.

Across its diversified business units, Animoca Brands generated booking revenues of US$314m for the 2024 financial year, a gain of 12% from 2023 (US$280m).

The increase was underpinned by a significant acceleration in the group’s Digital Asset Advisory (DAA) business, which provides Web3 projects with token advisory services, marketing, listing advisory, node operation, and trading services and saw revenues increase by 116% YoY to US$165 million.

The Company generated an additional US$110 million from Web3 operating businesses of subsidiaries, which include blockchain-based sales, in-app purchases, and other non-blockchain sales.

The group’s core operating divisions were complemented by an additional US$39m from investment activity, which included realised gains from digital asset investments and investment management fees from Animoca Ventures.

Operating expenses decreased to US$217 million - down from US$246m in the previous financial year - reflecting Animoca Brands’ ongoing focus on cost management including project optimisation and AI deployments. The full-year result saw the Company close out 2025 with a strong balance sheet, reporting total cash and stablecoin balances of US$293 million.

This article was developed in collaboration with Animoca Brands, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.