Hong Kong-based game software company Animoca Brands is entering the Bitcoin (BTC) industry by backing the Opal Foundation, a new Bitcoin ecosystem protocol.

Animoca Brands took to X on April 30 to announce that the firm is “coming to Bitcoin,” disclosing its high ambitions to become the “largest Web3 ecosystem” for gaming, education and culture built on BTC.

The company’s move into Bitcoin involves the Opal Protocol and BLIF token, which will be the Opal Protocol Runes token and is initiated by Animoca and the metaverse technology platform Darewise.

In the announcement, Animoca touted the upcoming BLIF as a token to enable a “true digital life” on Bitcoin, declaring that BTC is ready for Web3.

“With the advent of Ordinals, Bitcoin made the giant leap from simply being a way to store value to becoming a store of culture for the Web3 age,” Animoca’s executive chairman and co-founder Yat Siu said, adding:

“Building up our presence on the Bitcoin chain through the exciting work of the OPAL Protocol will help to advance our vision of an open metaverse in which all people have the opportunity to enjoy digital property rights and benefit from the power of network effects.”

The company’s X thread detailed that six of Animoca Brands’ portfolio companies have already joined as Genesis members. Additionally, the announcement notes that all future Bitcoin-based projects from Animoca Brands will partner with the Opal Foundation.

Initiated in 2024, the Opal protocol positions itself as a “decentralized ecosystem protocol on Bitcoin, powered by BLIF.” Its “litepaper” reads:

“The OPAL protocol is not just a digital playground; it's a seamless blend of virtual and real-life experiences designed to be a digital extension of reality, where banking, entertainment, education, and social interactions coexist harmoniously."

According to Opal’s spokespeople from its official Telegram group, the launch date of the Opal protocol and BLIF airdrop will be announced at a later date.

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Despite the Opal protocol not having launched yet, its X profile counts more than 270,000 subscribers at the time of writing.

“We are proud to have Animoca Brands as our first strategic launch partner, as the Opal Foundation will help to bridge their vision to establish the open Opal protocol into Bitcoin and ordinals,” the company said on its website.

Cointelegraph approached Animoca for a comment regarding the news but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Animoca’s announcement on entrance into Bitcoin comes amid Hong Kong's trading debut of spot Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF) on April 30.

On the first day of launch, the ETFs recorded small volumes compared to those seen by spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in January 2024.

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