According to statistics from RootData, 1,530 publicly disclosed crypto venture capital (VC) investment rounds took place in 2024, a whopping 25.1% increase from the previous year.
Total fundraising this year reached $10.04 billion, an increase of 7.59% from 2023.
A surge in crypto investments
Venture investment activity is an important indicator of the health of the crypto sector, and current levels paint an optimistic picture. Initially, the highest fundraising activity occurred in the first half of the year, with a steady decline over the following months. However, since Trump’s re-election as US president, this trend is reversing thanks to new capital inflows.
Investment rounds over $20 million decreased from the previous year, but all other crypto fundraises between $1 million and $20 million increased. Additionally, seed funding rounds made up a smaller portion of total fundraising rounds, with strategic funding increasing in 2024.
Although the amount of investment capital in the crypto space has increased, its sector distribution has undergone some dramatic changes. To be fair, blockchain infrastructure was by far the largest recipient of venture capital in both years.
However, DeFi funding has almost doubled, occupying a comfortable second place. CeFi, on the other hand, ranked fifth.
Stripe’s Bridge deal leads the way
The biggest investment took place in October, thanks to Stripe, the massive payment platform. In a “landmark” deal to facilitate the company’s crypto business, Stripe purchased Bridge for $1.1 billion. This enormous sum easily topped the rankings of the biggest fundraisers, more than double that of the runner-up.
“The $1 billion acquisition of Bridge by Stripe signals to venture capital firms that stable startups that were previously underfunded due to lack of early token liquidity now have a clearer path to big exits. Expect more funding and more entrepreneurs building around stablecoins,” wrote Qiao Wang, founder of Alliance DAO.
Another high-profile crypto investment is in Australian miner Iris Energy, which received $413 million in July. The company planned to use these venture capital funds to increase its operational capacity, adding 30 EH/s and 510 megawatts (MW) of data centers in 2024. Iris also worked on a 1,400 MW mining venture in West Texas.
Avalanche, a notable blockchain project, also brought in significant venture capital funding towards the end of the year. This has contributed to the trend of blockchain infrastructure receiving more fundraising capital than any other crypto/Web3 area. On December 11, it held a private sale of locked tokens, with the largest contribution from institutions like Galaxy Digital.
Overall, 2024 has been a bullish year for crypto investing. Since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF earlier this year, institutional adoption has increased significantly across the space. Recent surveys of the crypto community suggest a high level of individual optimism, and these bullish sentiments are reflected in these intense investments.
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