Animoca Brands and Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group have mutually suspended their proposed reverse merger that was meant to take the Web3 and AI investor public, the companies said in a joint announcement published September 22. The two sides concluded that the estimated interim period needed to finalize the deal no longer aligns with their short- and medium-term strategic goals, following a review of projected closing timelines and what Animoca described as evolving market conditions. The proposed transaction had been on the table since late 2025.
Why the deal stalled
The parties may consider resuming discussions “if and when conditions permit,” Animoca said, without setting a new timeline. Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman, framed the move as a question of flexibility. “While we hold our proposed merger with Currenc Group in high regard, our corporate agility must take precedence,” he said. Siu added that the company is affirming its focus “from a position of significant operational strength, an unmatched digital assets and AI portfolio, and a concerted drive to achieve our compliance milestones.”
A paused path to Nasdaq
The reverse merger, first announced on November 3, 2025, would have seen Currenc acquire Animoca through an Australian scheme of arrangement, handing Animoca shareholders a collective 95% stake in the combined company. Animoca has been an unlisted public company since it was removed from the Australian Securities Exchange in March 2020, and the Currenc transaction offered a route back to public trading through a vehicle already listed on Nasdaq rather than a conventional initial public offering.
Relisting ambitions intact
Animoca said it remains fully committed to relisting on a major public exchange and continues to advance its financial compliance roadmap. The company issued audited financial statements for fiscal 2023 on July 17, which it said marks the second set of audited results released this year, and is now actively progressing preparation of its fiscal 2024 statements. Siu said the company will “continue to pursue optimal routes to a public listing” as it works through the audit processes required to meet the compliance standards of a major exchange. Animoca, which describes itself as a builder and investor in more than 600 Web3 companies and digital assets, has been pursuing a return to public markets since its 2020 exit from the ASX. That ambition overlaps with his longer-term bet on AI; Siu has argued AI agents will define the next era of the internet.
