Venture capital (VC) is aggressively investing in start-up companies involved in digital currency and blockchain technology after the winter era of crypto assets (virtual currency) is approaching.
These VC investments reached $ 17.5 billion in the first half of this year, according to Pitchbook data. Last year, when cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin were strong, they reached a record high of $ 26.9 billion for the whole year, but this year's pace is even faster.
"I don't think investors are upset by the current market environment," said Roderik van der Graf, founder of Hong Kong investment firm Remniscap. "We have plenty of money to invest." Added.
VC will invest in young companies that it considers promising in the future. The crypto asset industry has been licking the acid for the last six months, but pitchbook data suggests that VCs have solid confidence in future crypto assets and blockchain technology.
This year's crypto asset industry is suffering from the headwinds of the macroeconomic environment and the failure of major projects. Bitcoin prices have fallen by about 65% from a record high of $ 69,000 last November. The market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency market has shrunk to $ 1 trillion, one-third of the beginning of the year.
The plunge in the market has shaken related companies, and major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase Global and OpenSea, which operates an NFT (non-fungible token for non-duplicate digital assets) platform, have been forced to reduce their workforce on a large scale. rice field.
Some VCs have invested a lot of military money in the industry, despite the tragedy.
That said, not all investors remain bullish. David Seamer, CEO of crypto asset management firm Wave Financial, said there are signs that the rise in the value of crypto asset companies is showing signs of rebounding. "It's going to go even further. It's only been a few months since this market cycle began. In the last cycle, companies seeking funding lasted for about a year," he said.
North America, which has long been the center of VC, is once again the leading role. Investment in crypto asset startups in the first half of this year was about $ 11.4 billion, approaching $ 15.6 billion over the last year.
This is in sharp contrast to US VC investment in general. Due to the bad macro environment and the turmoil in the financial markets, total VC investment in the first half was $ 144.2 billion, down from $ 158.2 billion.
Lumi Morales of Digital Currency Group, a leading crypto investment firm in the United States, points out that such data shows increased confidence in crypto assets and blockchain. He declared, "The crisis of survival was once said that the entire industry might disappear, but it was all a fantasy. It's no longer the case."
The move to adopt crypto assets as an investment method has expanded significantly last year. The use of blockchain is also taking root. However, promises to revolutionize industries such as finance and commodities have yet to come true.
US crypto asset companies that made large investments from VC in the first half are the US division of crypto asset exchange FTC ($ 400 million), blockchain developer Consensus ($ 450 million), and stablecoin issuer circle ($ 450 million). 400 million dollars) etc.
These investments are also active in Europe, with a total of $ 2.2 billion in the first half.
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