Venture Capital Funding in the Crypto Sector Rises to $2.4 Billion in Q1, Up 40.3% Quarter-over-Quarter

PANews reported on May 20 that, according to Reuters, Pitchbook data shows that due to expectations of lower interest rates and the launch of the first Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States, funding for cryptocurrency startups increased for the second consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2024, reaching $2.4 billion. This quarter's funding was distributed across 518 transactions, a 40.3% increase from the previous quarter. During the same period, global venture capital investment fell to a nearly five-year low. The largest deal was completed by the decentralized cloud platform Together AI, which raised $106 million in early-stage funding led by Salesforce Ventures, valuing the company at $1.1 billion.

Pitchbook analyst Robert Le stated, "The competition for investment rounds has become very intense, especially at the early stages. The fact that early-stage deals are valued higher than later-stage deals complicates the situation, but... we will see if this trend continues in the coming quarters." However, the exit rate remains very low. Le expects that as the market matures, mergers will accelerate later this year, particularly among cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians, and infrastructure providers.