Key takeaways
- The cryptocurrency industry raised $2.1 billion across 297 funding rounds in the third quarter of 2023, the lowest amount raised since the final quarter of 2020.
- Crypto industry fundraising peaked at over $15 billion in the first quarter of 2022.
- The cryptocurrency industry sectors that saw the most fundraising activity in Q3 2023 were blockchain infrastructure and decentralized finance (DeFi).
- Binance Labs was the most active investor during the last quarter, with more than twice as many deals as the next closest competitor.
- Interest in cryptocurrencies has waned amid regulatory uncertainty and criminal charges against some of the biggest names of the latest cryptocurrency bull market, such as Sam Bankman-Fried.
A report released Thursday by crypto intelligence firm Messari showed a continued downward trend in crypto industry funding amid regulatory uncertainty in the US and the opening of the criminal trial of the founder and former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Although bitcoinThe price is up more than 60% in the year, the 36% drop in cryptocurrency industry fundraising from the second quarter to the third in 2023 is a clear indication that cryptocurrencies bear market It has not finished. It is a continuation of a downward trend that began after a peak of more than $15 billion in fundraising in the first quarter of 2022.
The total amount raised in the last quarter, around $2.1 billion, is the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2020, according to the Messari report. Additionally, the 297 fundraising deals made in the crypto industry in the quarter were the fewest since Q4 2020.
block chain Infrastructure was the sector that received the most funding overall, with 18% of the total amount raised, while Decentralized finance or DeFisector registered the greatest activity with 67 closed operations.
More specifically, the proposed scaling solutions received 43% of the money raised by blockchain infrastructure projects. For the DeFi sector, exchanges achieved both the most deals and the most money raised. Activity in these two sectors has been a trend over the last year, in addition to the flow of money into the gaming and service sectors.
Binance Labs was the most active investor in the crypto industry in the third quarter of 2023, with 23 deals made. His main focus for investments in the cryptocurrency industry has been DeFi, games and projects focused on zero knowledge and privacy-focused technologies.
Binance Labs accounted for more than double the number of deals closed by the next closest investor. That said, the top 10 investors last quarter accounted for just 7% of all crypto industry fundraising deals, indicating great diversity in terms of funding sources.
Crypto Bear Market Looms Over Q3 Fundraising
Reasons for the uninterrupted crypto bear market range from regulatory uncertainty in the US to a widespread drop in interest in the industry after the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange and other platforms.
A number of major crypto exchanges and projects, such as binance and Coinbase, have been the subject of lawsuits by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this year. Now, the criminal trial of the founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Frito for fraud and conspiracy has begun. At the same time, Congress is considering legislation with new regulations for the crypto industry.
