Since the introduction of cryptocurrency and the launch of the flagship coin Bitcoin in 2009, the crypto industry has grown remarkably, attracting billions of dollars both in investments and transactions. A recent report from DefiLlama shows that crypto startups have received over $100 billion in funding in the past 10 years.
This figure underscores the impressive growth of the sector and is a testament to the interest and confidence investors have in the industry. Even though not all funded projects went on to become successful, others have recorded significant progress and even went on the be publicly listed. Per DefiLlama data, crypto startups have received exactly $101.359 billion across 5,287 funding rounds since May 2014.
Crypto Startup Funding Surges Above $100 Billion
The TVL (total value locked) aggregator platform DefiLlama, paints a clear picture of the funding growth experienced by the crypto sector since May 2014, 5 years after the first cryptocurrency Bitcoin was launched.
According to the report, in May 2014, innovative crypto startups received a total of $17.14 million. However, fast-forward to 10 years later, the total funding received in May 2024 topped $280 million, representing a 176.927% increase. Even though $280 million is a notable amount, it was significantly lower than April’s value of $777.11 million.
The height of the crypto startup funding was reached in October 2021 during the bull run after $7.079 billion was raised. The second-highest was the previous month of September 2021 which saw about $3.749 billion in funding flow into crypto startups.
Some of the notable funds raised in May 2024 include $70 million raised by Babylon Chain, a Bitcoin staking project, with Paradigm as the lead investor to advance trustless Bitcoin staking, $11 million by Neynar, a toolbox for Web3 social networks, led by Haun Ventures, Coinbase, and a16z, and $150 million raised by Farcaster, a decentralized social networks building protocol, led by Paradigm.
A further look into the provided data reveals that almost 50% of the total funding raised within the last ten years originates from the United States, while the remaining is spread across other countries like the United Kingdom, and Singapore. The continuous large investments in crypto startups underline the bright future of the sector as more innovative projects solving real-world problems emerge.
Over $2.4 Billion Raised in First Quarter of 2024
Meanwhile, the first quarter of 2024 has recorded a massive influx of funds to crypto startups. DefiLlama data shows that more than $2.4 billion has been raised across 518 rounds. Compared to the previous quarter (Q4 2023), the total funding surged by 40.3% marking considerable progress for the crypto industry.
Additionally, the number of rounds closed also witnessed a 44.7% increase compared to Q4 2023. The peak for Q1 2024 was reached in February when a total of $1.02 billion was raised, followed by March, raising $935.4 million. This surge comes following the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10, 2024, giving way to an influx of institutional investors to the crypto sector.
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