Quick Take:
- Hong Kong’s leading property company Sun Hung Kai led a $90 million funding round by Sygnum.
- The real estate giant had previously signed up for The Sandbox’s project of building a Hong Kong-based virtual world called Mega City.
- Sun Hung Kai, which reportedly became the leading real estate company in Hong Kong in January 2022, has intensified its investment in blockchain projects.
Hong Kong real estate company Sun Hung Kai on Thursday led Sygnum’s $90 million capital raise. The giant property company had signed up for The Sandbox’s Mega City, the previous day. Sun Hung Kai has intensified its investment in blockchain projects recently amid the increasing demand for digital land and Metaverse gaming.
Sun Hung Kai is a publicly listed alternative investment financial services institution in Hong Kong while Sygnum has a banking licence in Switzerland and an asset management licence in Singapore.
Sygnum, which announced the oversubscribed Series B funding round on its website said the funds will be used to advance its strategy for Web 3.0. The crypto bank said the $90 million raise now values it at about $800 million, which is ten times its total revenue for 2021.
Sun Hung Kai’s Group Executive Chairman, Lee Seng Huang said his firm’s participation in the funding is part of its overall strategy of expanding its asset management portfolio to digital assets.
“Amidst growing institutional demand and regulatory oversight of this sector, Sygnum, with its track record as a fully-regulated digital asset bank and asset manager, is the ideal partner for us to co-develop digital asset focused products together and to cater to the strong demand for digital asset solutions and services in Asia, Europe and beyond.”
Other firms participating in the capital raise included Canadian investment firm Meta Investments, as well as, prominent blockchain, NFT and Metaverse gaming companies Animoca Brands and Wemade.
Mathias Imbach, Sygnum Co-Founder and Group CEO thinks the digital assets economy is at a crossroads, as it inches closer to going mainstream, in which case consumers will demand fully-regulated solutions.
“This financing round is a key milestone in our global expansion and in our mission to empower everyone everywhere to own digital assets with complete trust”, he said.
Sun Hung Kai had previously backed The Sandbox’s Metaverse project dubbed Mega City that focuses on “contemporary cultural icons and the expansion of Hong Kong culture into the Metaverse”.
Digital real estate is one of the hottest commodities in the Metaverse economy. The Sandbox’s Mega-City land sale is scheduled for next Thursday, allowing people to purchase LAND outside of Mega-City hubs.
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