Ancient8

Ancient8 is a gaming-focused Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built to onboard the next generation of Web3 users. The platform is built using the OP Stack and integrates Celestia for data availability, producing a highly flexible modular architecture that supports Web3 games and decentralized applications. What started as Vietnam’s largest blockchain gaming guild has since evolved into a comprehensive infrastructure layer for on-chain gaming.

Ancient8 was founded in July 2021 by Howard Xu, William Phan, and Nathan L., operating out of Ho Chi Minh City. The team recognized early that blockchain gaming faced a fundamental barrier: the cost and complexity of on-chain transactions made it inaccessible to most players. Their solution was to build infrastructure that strips away those barriers at the protocol level.

The platform addresses this through several technical design choices. Ancient8 Chain employs Optimistic Rollups as a Layer 2 scaling technique. The use of state channels and off-chain computation further enhances scalability, eliminating congestion and delays through technical optimizations. The platform also prioritizes low gas fees, making on-chain interactions more affordable and efficient for players and developers. The OP Stack’s full compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine allows developers to seamlessly port existing Ethereum projects.

Ancient8’s use cases span the entire lifecycle of game development and player engagement. The platform operates a suite of integrated products: Dojo Marketplace is a dedicated NFT marketplace for top-tier Web3 game projects; Space3 is a game publisher and launchpad for bringing Web2 and Web3 games to market; Ancient8 Gaming serves as a global hub for game discovery, community building, and in-real-life events; ReneVerse provides innovative in-game advertising through its Borderless Ads engine; and A8ID allows users to own their gaming identity and social graph in a decentralized manner. This stack covers everything from building a game to acquiring users to monetizing it.

Ancient8 also manages the largest blockchain gaming guild in Vietnam, with over 3,500 scholars using its guild management software, and has partnered with more than 25 top-tier GameFi projects, including Axie Infinity, CyBall, and Phantom Galaxies.

Growth has been consistent since launch. In January 2022, Ancient8 closed a $4 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital, Pantera Capital, and Hashed. It then raised $6 million in June 2022 to build infrastructure software for GameFi. Ancient8 has raised $10 million in total from investors including Pantera, Dragonfly, Hashed, Makers Fund, C2 Ventures, Mechanism, Coinbase, IOSG, Jump, and Animoca. The Ancient8 mainnet launched in February 2024, marking the transition from a guild to a full-stack blockchain platform. In January 2025, Ancient8 co-hosted the Ancient8 Builder Jam with Kyros Ventures, ZKP Labs, and Orochi Network. The event had over 300 participants and 72 teams submitting projects across four tracks, featuring a $400,000+ prize pool. In August 2025, Ancient8 launched AncientX Studio, a dedicated arm for building consumer-focused blockchain games and dApps, with initial projects including survival game Zone9 and tactical RPG Degen Defense.

Ancient8’s major backers include Pantera Capital, Dragonfly Capital, and Hashed, alongside Mechanism Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Animoca Brands, Jump Capital, IOSG Ventures, Shima Capital, Folius Ventures, and Impossible Finance. The investor list reads like a who’s who of crypto venture capital, which signals institutional confidence in the platform’s long-term thesis.

The native cryptocurrency of the Ancient8 ecosystem is the A8 token. The A8 token is central to the Ancient8 ecosystem, offering utilities that include participation in decentralized governance, access to exclusive events, and in-game transactions. Token holders vote on proposals that shape the direction of the Ancient8 Chain through the platform’s DAO structure. Ancient8 secured 500,000 OP tokens from Optimism, allocating 200,000 OP in Season 1 (January to March 2025) to reward existing ecosystem contributors, fund new builders developing games and infrastructure tools, and support governance through council-managed approvals with one-year token locks. A8 has a total supply of 1 billion tokens, with approximately 390 million in circulation.

A8 tokens are available on several centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. For larger token amounts, or if you want to buy locked tokens or SAFT notes, the Acquire.Fi OTC and Secondaries Marketplace is the right venue for that.

To buy Ancient8 tokens OTC on Acquire.Fi, you can either engage with existing listings already posted by sellers in the marketplace or submit a new Buy listing specifying your preferred valuation and token amount. If you hold A8 and want to exit your position, you can sell Ancient8 tokens OTC by engaging with existing buyer listings or submitting a new Sell listing on your own terms.

Once a listing is submitted, Acquire.Fi handles the coordination from there. The Acquire.Fi team conducts background checks on counterparties, issues NDAs, and then facilitates introductions between buyer and seller. Both parties are responsible for their own due diligence and payment settlement. Acquire.Fi is not a broker-dealer, but the team actively works to move deals forward and assists wherever possible to see transactions through to close.