Crypto VC Market Struggles Despite Digital Asset Rally, Says Galaxy Digital

What to know:

  • Venture capital activity has remained depressed despite the rally in digital assets, Galaxy said.
  • The report said that some large investors were using spot bitcoin ETFs to gain exposure to the crypto market rather than early-stage VC investing.
  • Galaxy noted that VC funds invested $3.5 billion across 416 deals in Q4.

Even though there’s been a surge in digital assets recently, the level of crypto investment by Venture Capital firms is still lower than what was observed during past market upswings, as mentioned in a report published by Galaxy Digital on Wednesday.

Total capital allocated to VC funds in 2024 was $11.5 billion, less than in 2023.

In the past, venture capital (VC) involvement was closely tied with the surge of crypto asset prices during bull markets in 2017 and 2021. However, despite recent crypto market rallies, VC activity has stayed relatively low over the last two years.

Stagnation in the venture capital market is due to a number of reasons.

This situation features a market reminiscent of a barbell, with bitcoin (BTC) and the recently introduced spot-traded bitcoin ETFs dominating the focus. Meanwhile, there’s minimal new activity stemming from memecoins, according to Galaxy. These cryptocurrencies are challenging to finance and have uncertain long-term prospects.

The report indicates a rising excitement for innovative collaborations between artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency, with upcoming regulatory adjustments potentially opening up increased chances in areas like stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), and tokenization.

Instead of directly investing in young venture capital projects for cryptocurrencies, some significant financial backers might opt to invest in Bitcoin ETFs that trade on the spot market, as stated in the report.

As a researcher examining the data, I can confirm that my findings indicate the United States concluded the highest number of deals in Q4 and also invested the most capital, according to Galaxy’s analysis.

In the last quarter, early-stage investments made up approximately 60% of the overall investment, with stablecoin firms leading the way in fundraising, according to Galaxy.

As a researcher delving into the realm of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, I’ve discovered that venture capitalists collectively poured an impressive $11.5 billion into startups specializing in these areas during the year 2024. Interestingly, these investments saw a significant surge of 46% from the previous quarter, amounting to $3.5 billion. This increase was spread across 416 deals in Q4, as per the report’s findings.

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2025-01-17 15:59