Blockchain and cryptocurrency Venture capitalist and investors field now faces a new reality due to market unrest and sharply declining cryptocurrency values. Bitcoin and Ethereum had each lost half of their value since their all-time highs in November 2021. In June, the market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies fell by two-thirds, from a high of $3 trillion in November to less than $1 trillion. As a result, many industry players are beginning to accept the truth of another crypto winter.
Popular cryptocurrency lending site Celsius stopped accepting withdrawals at the beginning of June due to deteriorating market conditions. To release collateral stored in decentralized finance applications, the lending provider has paid back $300 million in debt to various platforms since July. And Celsius is only one of the numerous cryptocurrency players vying for financial survival.
After failing to make margin calls from its lenders, Three Arrows Capital—a cryptocurrency hedge fund that up until recently oversaw $10 billion in assets—filed for bankruptcy, sparking a chain reaction of solvency difficulties for other crypto companies, including Voyager Capital, BlockFi, and others. Sam Bankman-Fried, a wealthy and successful crypto entrepreneur, even intervened to give lines of credit for a few failing crypto organizations. BlockFi and Vogager Capital recently secured credit lines of $250 million and $500 million from Bankman-trading Fried’s companies Alameda Research and FTX, respectively.
For crypto and blockchain, the second half of 2022 is proving to tell a very different tale than its epics of 2021, which were characterized by tremendous values and deal sizes. The current context, which is ripe with layoffs, hiring freezes, general uncertainty for the space, too much leverage, and insufficient liquidity, has combined to produce the ideal storm. Unsurprisingly, there are still investors and creators passionate about cryptocurrency, and many are prepared to take a long view of their cherished principles and innovations.
Here, we examine some leading cryptocurrency and blockchain investors and their most recent deals in the present financial climate.
Top 10 highest-volume investors in cryptocurrencies and blockchain
Bitcoin Ventures
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 254
Blockchain and cryptocurrency deals will cease in June 2022.
In 2018, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase established Coinbase Ventures as a venture capital organization. It operates virtually entirely in the blockchain and cryptocurrency and specializes in early-stage VC projects. Despite a rocky start to 2022 for Coinbase, its venture arm remains the leading VC investor in the market thanks to recent investments in the DeFi platform Mohash and the DAO platform Samudai.
Electronic Currency Group
New York, New York
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 223
Blockchain and cryptocurrency transactions are no longer being accepted after June 2022.
The 2015-founded Digital Currency Group is a venture capital firm that primarily invests in blockchain, fintech, and cryptocurrency businesses. Their most recent investments include blockchain software firm Streami and cryptocurrency wallet Ballet. The company is looking to invest in seed stage, early stage, and later stage venture capital projects and has $72 million in dry powder.
Capital AU21
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 212
Date of the final cryptocurrency or blockchain transaction: July 2022
A venture capital business called AU21 Capital seeks to invest in startups, early-stage organizations, and later-stage companies pushing blockchain technology’s boundaries. Enjinstarter and Awkay Technologies, two blockchain gaming businesses, are among the most recent investments made by the company.
Ventures NGC
Office: Singapore
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 211
Expires in July 2022.
Many businesses—including Parami Protocol and ReSource Finance—focus on using blockchain’s potential for decentralization, with use cases like decentralized finance and decentralized computing. NGC Ventures was established in 2017 and worked with blockchain and cryptocurrency startups worldwide as an investor and an incubator. They oversee $400 million in assets.
Also Read: Game VCs are inundated with blockchain game pitches.
Capital Pantera
HQ: Menlo Park, Calif.
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 171
Expires in June 2022.
Having been established in 2013, Pantera Capital is a hedge fund focusing on blockchain-based businesses and various types of cryptocurrencies and digital currencies. It focuses primarily on seed and early-stage venture capital projects, and the median round size is $10 million. Recent investments made by the company include blockchain game developer Oxalis Games and the mobile crypto app Pintu.
Capital D
HQ: Beijing, China
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 166
Last blockchain or cryptocurrency transaction date: May 2022
LD Capital specializes in seed, early-stage, and later-stage investments in equity investment and trading firms, as well as blockchain securities. Recent investments in the company include the decentralized sports betting platform UBet and NFT media company VAST.
Capital Fenbushi
HQ: Shanghai, China
Blockchain and cryptocurrency deals: 113
Date of the final cryptocurrency or blockchain transaction: July 2021
A venture capital firm focused on blockchain-based businesses, Fenbushi Capital, was established in 2015. Companies like Fold, which develop new Bitcoin applications, and businesses like Multiverse Labs, which use blockchain to enhance resource sharing and app integration, are among the initiatives in which they have invested.
Bitcoin Labs
HQ: Hong Kong, China
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 144
Date of the final cryptocurrency or blockchain transaction: June 2022
Binance Labs is an accelerator that seeks for, supports, and invests in cryptocurrency and blockchain entrepreneurs and communities, sponsoring initiatives that expand the blockchain ecosystem as a whole. The chain-cross protocol Zecrey and the cryptocurrency exchange ApolloX are a few of the accelerator’s most recent investments.
Andreessen Horowitz
HQ: Menlo Park, Calif.
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 141
Date of the final cryptocurrency or blockchain transaction: July 2022
Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm founded in 2009, invests in various industries and stages, including fintech, blockchain, SaaS, cybersecurity, and more. A couple of the company’s most recent investments in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries are Linera, a blockchain technology created to bring Web2 scalability to Web3, and Flowcarbon, a distributor of carbon tokens meant to increase transparency in the voluntary carbon market.
Capital Genblock
Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Bitcoin and blockchain transactions: 139
Date of the final cryptocurrency or blockchain transaction: June 2022
Genblock Capital specializes in seed and early-stage investments in the decentralized finance and metaverse industries, investing only in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The business most recently took part in Astaria’s seed round of financing for NFT lending platforms.
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About the Author: Diana Ambolis
