Key Point
- Through June, a total of $280.25 million in funding had flowed into cryptocurrency startups.
- Blockchain project Farcaster raised $150 million from Paradigm and others last month, setting a new record.
- EVM-Compatible Layer-1 Blockchain Monad Takes Top Spot in April, Raises $225 Million
The latest data shows that cryptocurrency startups are set to raise more than $100 billion between the end of May 2014 and mid-June 2024, signaling growing investor interest in the burgeoning industry.
As of June 16, 2024, the total amount of funding pumped into the cryptocurrency startup sector was $101.359 billion, according to data from decentralized finance (DeFi) analytics dashboard DefiLlama.
The total value locked (TVL) tracker also revealed that there have been a total of 5,287 funding rounds over the past decade. In the first two weeks of June alone, a total of $280.25 million in funding flowed into the crypto startup sector.
One of the most significant funding rounds in recent weeks came from Bitcoin staking project Babylon, which raised $70 million in late May in a round led by prominent crypto-focused venture capital firm Paradigm.
Another significant startup funding round was secured by blockchain-based social media project Farcaster, which raised $150 million in early May. That round was also led by Paradigm and backed by Standard Crypto and a16z, among others.
In April, Monad, an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer-1 blockchain, announced it had raised $225 million in a round led by Paradigm. The company said the funding should help it hire more talent as it works to develop a faster version of the blockchain.
Also in April, Berachain, a layer-1 blockchain built by Cosmos Technology, raised $100 million in a round led by a variety of high-profile backers, including Brevan Howard Digital, Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
The latest figures mark a major milestone in the cryptocurrency space, signaling growing support and confidence in the potential of digital asset startups, as well as further development of the technology to build the next generation of cryptocurrency platforms and services. The entry of decentralized venture capital firms into the space is also adding further impetus to the rapidly evolving space.
The industry has had its ups and downs, especially in the early days of the crypto sector. Interestingly, fundraising hit an all-time high ($7.079 billion) in November 2021, about a year before the crypto sector entered its “winter” season following the collapse of crypto giant FTX and several other companies involved in the business.
Following the crypto winter of late 2022, fundraising has slowed and monthly fundraising continues to struggle to break the $1 billion mark. Meanwhile, in March 2024, crypto startups raised over $1 billion, ending a multi-month drought. It remains to be seen how the startup sector will perform throughout June.
