Republic Tokenizes Animoca Brands Equity on Solana for Retail Buyers

Republic, the global investment platform with $3 billion deployed across 2,500-plus companies, is moving Animoca Brands’ private equity onto the Solana blockchain, a tokenization push first unveiled on September 30, 2025 and still rolling out as of May 2026. Existing Animoca shareholders can already claim tokenized shares directly to their wallets through Republic, and a public waitlist for new buyers is open at republic.com/animoca. The deal lands while Animoca, the Hong Kong Web3 group with more than 600 portfolio investments, races toward a separate $1 billion Nasdaq listing through a reverse merger with Currenc Group targeted to close inside 2026.

Andrew Durgee, Co-CEO at Republic, called the structure “a precedent for how companies can structure their equity for the future” in Republic’s September 30, 2025 announcement on tokenizing Animoca equity. Pricing, the exact token standard, and the public trading start date have not yet been disclosed.

The setup is unusual. Animoca was kicked off the Australian Securities Exchange on March 9, 2020 after the ASX cited governance concerns and “involvement in cryptocurrency related activities.” Six years later, the company is using the same crypto rails it was once punished for to reach retail investors again, this time on Solana, this time with regulators watching.

How the Solana Token Actually Works

Solana hosts the mint. Republic handles distribution, identity checks, and secondary trading. The tokens represent economic exposure to Animoca’s equity rather than direct cap-table ownership, a design Republic has standardized through its Mirror Tokens program for private companies.

Existing shareholders need to register a whitelisted wallet before they can claim. New buyers join the waitlist and clear Republic’s eligibility checks, which typically split between Republic’s Regulation D explainer for accredited US investors and Regulation S for offshore participants. Republic has said the Animoca token “will comply with existing regulatory requirements” without naming a specific exemption for this offering.

The minimum buy-in for Republic’s public Mirror Token tier starts at roughly $50, with no accreditation required. That floor is what makes the offering meaningfully different from the over-the-counter secondary market where Animoca shares have traded since the ASX exit.

What’s confirmed so far:

• Tokens minted on Solana and distributed to whitelisted wallets
• Trading routed through Republic’s global marketplace once live
• Compliance anchored to existing US and offshore securities exemptions
• Existing shareholders eligible to claim tokenized representations of their holdings

What’s still blank:

• The exact SPL token standard or custom contract structure
• Public trading start date and any lockup or holding period
• Per-token pricing and any cap on retail allocation
• Whether the token survives, converts, or unwinds at the Nasdaq merger close

The $1 Billion Nasdaq Bid Running In Parallel

Animoca isn’t betting on tokens alone. On November 3, 2025, Currenc Group, a Singapore-based fintech trading on Nasdaq under ticker CURR, signed a non-binding term sheet for a reverse merger with Animoca Brands Corporation Limited. The combined entity targets a roughly $1 billion valuation, well below Animoca’s last private mark of $5.9 billion set in 2022.

Animoca shareholders would hold about 95% of the merged company under the headline terms in Animoca Brands’ November 2025 reverse merger announcement with Currenc Group. Existing Currenc holders would keep the remaining 5%. Closing requires regulatory sign-off in the US and Australia, audited financials, court authorization in Australia, and a shareholder vote on both sides.

The two tracks complement each other in a way most private companies can’t replicate. The Nasdaq listing buys institutional credibility and a real ticker. The Solana token opens fractional, 24/7 access to a global retail base that may never read a prospectus.

It also creates a regulatory question nobody has fully answered. If the Nasdaq deal closes on schedule, Animoca’s claim on its own balance sheet will exist in two parallel forms: registered common stock under SEC oversight, and tokenized economic-exposure wrappers distributed through Republic. Holders of each will track the same financial statements.

That dual structure is now a live test of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s January 2026 staff statement on tokenized securities, which warned that wrapping a security in token form “does not change the fundamental nature of the underlying security.” Republic and Animoca will be the first scaled issuance regulators get to grade against that line.

A Six-Year Round Trip Through Crypto

Animoca’s ASX exit is the part of this story most coverage has skipped. The ASX’s March 2020 official removal notice for Animoca Brands ended a five-year listing that started on January 23, 2015. The delisting forced the company into private fundraising, where Temasek and GGV Capital led a $110 million round in August 2022 at a $6 billion valuation. The portfolio has grown from about 540 investments at the end of 2024 to more than 600 today.

Tokenizing Animoca Brands’ equity on Solana showcases what Internet Capital Markets make possible, instant, global access to private company ownership. Solana’s high-performance infrastructure ensures that tokenized shares can move with the same speed and efficiency as the internet itself.

Those words came from Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, in the joint announcement. The framing matters: the company that lost its public listing for crypto activity is now the showcase asset for crypto-native public markets. Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, has been blunt about why on the speaking circuit, calling 2026 “the year of the utility token” on Jacquelyn Melinek’s December 2025 podcast and telling audiences the broader industry must “tokenize or die.”

Inside Republic’s Mirror Token Playbook

Mirror Tokens are Republic’s Mirror Tokens program documentation applied to private-company exposure at retail scale. Republic has already deployed the wrapper for SpaceX. The Animoca offering is the first tied to a Web3-native company at this size.

Each Mirror Token gives holders economic exposure that tracks the underlying equity, distributed under existing securities exemptions. They sit on-chain, transfer only between whitelisted wallets, and resolve to cash settlement at defined corporate events such as a sale, merger, or public listing.

Republic has been explicit that Mirror Tokens do not carry voting rights and are not equivalent to holding common stock on a cap table. That distinction is the operating reality even when the marketing leans into the language of ownership.

The table is the cleanest answer to the question retail investors keep asking on Republic’s interest forms: am I buying the same thing a Nasdaq investor will buy after the merger? No. You’re buying something cheaper to access, faster to trade, and structurally junior on rights.

Solana’s RWA Surge In Hard Numbers

The Animoca deal arrives with Solana already running hot in the real-world-asset segment. The chain has spent 2025 and early 2026 turning into the default settlement layer for tokenized stocks, treasuries, and private equity wrappers.

The numbers behind that shift, drawn from the Solana Foundation’s State of Solana February 2026 report and related ecosystem data:

• $1.71 billion Solana RWA market cap, an all-time high recorded in late February 2026, up 45% in 30 days
• 325% growth across calendar 2025, lifting the segment from roughly $200 million in January 2025 to about $873 million by January 2026
• 55-plus tokenized equities already live on Solana through xStocks, including wrappers of Apple and Tesla
• $18.9 trillion projected total tokenized-asset market by 2033, per the joint Ripple and BCG forecast

What Yat Siu Is Telling Markets Now

Siu has spent the past six months running a public campaign for tokenized equity. In a January 2026 Invezz interview he argued identity and intellectual-property tokenization will drive mainstream adoption. A March 2026 CoinShares conversation cast Animoca itself as “a gateway to the utility tokens of Web3.”

His framing matters because Animoca is doing both at once. The Nasdaq merger gives the company access to traditional capital and the disclosure regime that comes with it. The Solana token gives it a retail distribution channel no listed peer has at this scale.

If Republic ships the offering before the Nasdaq close, Animoca becomes the first live experiment in whether retail crypto demand can meaningfully price a private-then-public company in real time. The answer arrives this year, and the SEC will be reading the filings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Buy Tokenized Animoca Shares Today?

Not yet. As of May 2026 the offering is in waitlist mode at republic.com/animoca. Existing Animoca shareholders can claim tokens directly by registering a whitelisted Solana wallet. New buyers can submit interest, get notified when the public sale opens, and clear Republic’s identity and jurisdiction checks before any allocation. Republic has not posted a public sale date, token price, or hard cap.

Do These Tokens Give Me Voting Rights At Animoca?

No. Republic’s Mirror Token structure provides economic exposure to the underlying equity but does not carry shareholder voting rights, board nomination rights, or a seat on Animoca’s cap table. If you want a voting interest, the relevant route is buying common stock in the merged Currenc-Animoca entity once it lists on Nasdaq, expected to close in 2026 under ticker CURR pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.

What Happens To My Token When The Nasdaq Merger Closes?

Republic has not published the conversion mechanics yet. Mirror Tokens typically resolve to cash settlement or a defined exchange ratio at corporate events like a merger or IPO. Watch the republic.com/animoca update page for the binding terms before the Currenc reverse merger closes, and read the offering memorandum carefully for any forced redemption, lockup, or pro-rata adjustment language.

Is This Legal Where I Live?

Eligibility depends on your country and accreditation status. Republic typically segments offerings between Regulation D for accredited US investors and Regulation S for non-US buyers, with several jurisdictions blocked entirely. The Republic platform runs a residency check during signup. If your country shows as restricted, no waitlist conversion or wallet whitelist will be possible regardless of how much capital you commit.

How Is This Different From Buying Animoca On An OTC Desk?

Three differences matter. The minimum drops from tens of thousands of dollars on OTC desks to roughly $50 on Republic. Settlement runs on Solana in seconds rather than over multi-day broker workflows. And secondary trading is concentrated on Republic’s marketplace instead of fragmented across private brokers, which should narrow bid-ask spreads once volume builds. The trade-off is the lack of voting rights.

Republic and Animoca have framed this as a precedent. The truthful read is narrower: it’s the first time a Web3 company with a real $1 billion-plus public path is using tokenization as a parallel distribution rail, and the SEC’s January 2026 staff guidance will get its first scaled stress test in the process. Whether the experiment ends as a template or a cautionary tale depends on what trades, at what price, on Solana the morning the offering finally goes live.