Fortune published an interview with Evan Auyang, President of Animoca Brands, stating that his background is not typical for a Hong Kong Web3 startup executive: Citigroup derivatives structuring and sales, McKinsey partner, Deputy Managing Director of Kowloon Motor Bus, then Managing Director of GLG International, and appointed President of Animoca Group in October 2021.

Auyang compares buses to blockchain: reducing the cost for everyone to reach their destination, deployable on any route, and not requiring each route to be profitable individually. He explains this as the reason for his entry into crypto, promoting stablecoins, and why he believes the industry's future is closer to regulated, usable public transport. He clearly states that he does not aim to create the next Tether, but rather to establish a regulated framework to bring Greater China and local capital markets on-chain.

Animoca, Standard Chartered Bank, and Hong Kong Telecom announced a joint venture, Anchorpoint, in February 2025, becoming one of the first applicants after Hong Kong opened stablecoin license applications. The company, co-founded by Executive Chairman Yat Siu, has a portfolio of over 600 companies, recently shifting its focus to agent-based AI and on-chain intersections, claiming about one-third of its invested companies have "no fixed place of registration." Auyang also serves as an independent non-executive director at Sun Hung Kai Properties and Asia Financial Group, chairs the think tank Civic Exchange, and is on the board of the Ras Al Khaimah Innovation City Authority in the UAE.

Bus franchises sell network effects and licenses, while stablecoin joint ventures sell compliant clearing frameworks. Funding is shifting from gaming and NFT combinations to licensed fiat token and institutional Web3. Beneficiaries are local capital market participants needing HKD stablecoins and banking channels; pressured parties are unlicensed issuers using USD stablecoins for Asian settlements. The interview is a narrative event, not a license approval.

Source: Public Information