White Rabbit Anime, Crowdfunded on Ethereum, Wins Emmy for Innovation in Emerging Media

White Rabbit — an interactive anime series built on the Shibuya Web3 platform — took home the 2025 Emmy for Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media Programming. This is apparently the first time a crypto‑funded project has received such recognition.

White Rabbit began as a proof‑of‑concept: the creators produced about a minute of animation, uploaded it, and let viewers vote on the next plot branch using a choose‑your‑own‑adventure mechanic. Instead of relying on a studio, they sold "Producer Pass" NFTs to crowdfund the first chapters. The sale raised roughly 400 ETH (around US$1.2 million at the time) in about 30 minutes, giving more than 1,700 holders voting rights over the story and a share of future revenues. From that grassroots experiment emerged a finished work deemed Emmy‑worthy, which is a compelling proof that decentralized financing can produce professional‑quality content.

This part of a larger trend of Web3‑enabled entertainment projects. Fox’s animated comedy "Krapopolis", created by Dan Harmon, launched a collection of "Krap Chicken" NFTs on Ethereum that give buyers access to token‑gated content, screening rooms and even voting rights over aspects of the show. Fox’s own Web3 studio bills it as the first animated comedy curated onchain, meaning major networks now see potential in bringing fans closer to production decisions through Ethereum. Another example, "The Gimmicks", is a community‑driven adult animation launched by Toonstar and Mila Kunis’ Sixth Wall. It uses free‑to‑mint NFTs; at the end of each episode, holders vote on a "choose your own adventure" option that influences future episodes, and the interactive social layer links fans’ engagement to their NFTs. This shows that Web3 allows a level of user or audience participation not possible in the pre-Ethereum world.

The most promising development in the Web 3 world is the changing of the administration and the appointment of a pro-crypto SEC that no longer views such NFTs as securities, as it did with the Stoner Cat NFTs. This unshackles Web3 entertainment to experiment with novel fundraising mechanisms that provide it with the lifeblood of industry: financial resources.