Sony’s Soneium blockchain, Animoca Brands bring anime to Web3

Sony’s Soneium blockchain has partnered with Animoca Brands to integrate anime artwork into decentralized digital identities, enhancing anime culture in Web3. The collaboration, announced on March 27, aims to engage global anime and manga fans by leveraging decentralized technologies.

Anime ID: Bridging Traditional Anime with Web3

As part of the partnership, Moca Network, Animoca’s digital identity infrastructure, will introduce an identity layer on the Soneium blockchain, starting with Anime ID—a decentralized identifier and reputation system. Anime ID is spearheaded by San FranTokyo, an initiative dedicated to merging anime and manga culture with blockchain technology.

Seamless Web3 Anime Experiences

The partnership integrates Moca Network’s AIR SDK (Account, Identity, and Reputation Software Development Kit) into the Soneium blockchain, enabling users to maintain unique identities across decentralized applications (DApps). San FranTokyo will be the first to adopt AIR SDK, driving anime fan engagement through anime-inspired Web3 campaigns.

The first major initiative, the Anime Art Festival on Soneium, will spotlight anime intellectual properties, creators, and Web3 projects. Solo Leveling, in collaboration with Otherworld, will be among the first featured projects.

A Growing Ecosystem for Entertainment in Web3

According to Moca Network project lead Kenneth Shek, anime is a “core part” of modern entertainment, and this partnership is just the beginning. “We foresee many other entertainment applications enriching user-owned identity and data,” Shek stated.

Sony Block Solutions Labs (Sony BSL) launched Soneium’s public testnet on Aug. 28, 2024, followed by its mainnet launch on Jan. 14. However, the launch faced backlash due to blacklisting certain memecoins, with critics claiming it disrupted market positions.

Anime and Memecoins in Web3

Meanwhile, the crypto market has seen a surge in Ghibli-inspired memecoins, following OpenAI’s launch of image generation for ChatGPT-4o on March 25. A Ghibli-themed token reached a $20 million market cap, prompting the creation of at least 20 other anime-related memecoins.

While Web3’s anime integration is gaining momentum, anime and crypto still face social stigmas. A survey on Aug. 26 ranked anime as the third-most unattractive hobby for men, with crypto ranking second.

Despite challenges, the Soneium–Animoca partnership marks a significant step toward Web3-powered anime engagement, offering immersive and decentralized anime experiences.

Source: Cointelegraph.com