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Crypto venture capital arm of HashKey has announced its strategic investment in Pluto Studio, the publishing platform behind Telegram-based game Catizen.AI.
HashKey Capital, the venture capital branch of <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/hong-kong/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hong Kong</a>-based crypto company <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/hashkey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">HashKey</a>, has supported Pluto Studio, the publishing platform behind the <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/telegram/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Telegram</a>-based game Catizen.AI, with a “strategic investment” in a bid to deeper its presence in the gamefi sector.
In a Jul. 30 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/hashkey-capital-announces-strategic-investment-in-pluto-studio-the-publisher-behind-catizenai-302209610.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">press release</a>, the Hong Kong-headquartered VC firm said that following the funding, HashKey Group will also be announcing a “coming up partnership with Catizen to further amplify the awareness of TON Mini-Game,” though specific details regarding the investment amount and the nature of the partnership weren’t disclosed.
As per HashKey Capital, Catizen has built a base of “over 500,000 paying users,” adding that this cohort sets the project “apart from other mini-apps” in the TON (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/toncoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">TON</a>) ecosystem.
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 “With Pluto Studio planning to launch over 18 additional games, this robust user base holds significant potential for future growth.”
 HashKey Capital
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The proceeds from the funding are said to be used to advance the mini-game platform, enhance future projects, and co-develop the ecosystem. HashKey Capital will also support Pluto Studio in exploring “the potential for a mini-game revolution within the TON ecosystem,” the press release reads.
You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/binance-labs-invests-telegram-web3-catizen/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Binance Labs invests in GameFi platform behind Telegram-based Web3 game Catizen </a>
The funding announcement arrives despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding the airdrop of Catizen.AI’s native token, CATI. Initially slated for a July release, the airdrop has been delayed. On July 29, Catizen.AI’s official X addressed the delay, <a href="https://x.com/CatizenAI/status/1817985435454624191" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">saying</a> “there are aspects that are not entirely under our control,” without providing further details on the reasons or new timing for the airdrop.
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 🚨 Important Update!🚨 1\ We've got some bad and really good news for you at the same time: our team has decided to move the date for the Shares-to-Token exchange event. You might wonder, what's good about that? Just FUD? 🤔 Not exactly. The whole point is that you'll actually…— tapswap (@tapswapai) <a href="https://twitter.com/tapswapai/status/1807867411103994028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">July 1, 2024</a>
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Catizen.AI is not alone in facing scrutiny over delayed token launches. Another Telegram-based project, Tapswap, has also <a href="https://x.com/tapswapai/status/1807867411103994028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1807867411103994028%7Ctwgr%5E250c8d2485acdf9eff5ddf03b2a63b8b9b80e871%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vanguardngr.com%2F2024%2F07%2Ftapswap-postpones-token-allocation-again%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">delayed</a> its token release multiple times, with the latest update pushing the launch to Q3. Hamster Kombat, yet another Telegram-based mini-app, has faced similar challenges.
<a href="https://crypto.news/tag/hamster/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hamster Kombat</a>, another Telegram-based mini-app, has yet to announce its token launch date. Although several crypto exchanges have added the HMSTR token for pre-market trading, it hasn’t been officially listed. In Russia, where the Hamster Kombat development team is rumored to have potential ties, lawmakers have even <a href="https://crypto.news/russian-lawmaker-pushes-for-hamster-kombat-ban-over-scam-concerns/" data-type="post" data-id="14285801" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">proposed</a> to ban the app due to concerns about possible scams.
Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/telegram-founder-is-concerned-about-catizen/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Telegram founder is concerned about helping cats: How is the new mini-game related? </a>

Hong Kong’s HashKey makes strategic investment in Catizen.AI’s publisher

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