In the first quarter of 2024, venture capital funds concluded more than five hundred deals. The total volume of transactions increased by 44% compared to October-December. The growth in the volume of investments and transactions with cryptocurrency startups indicates a positive mood among participants in the digital asset market, according to PitchBook.
Infrastructure startups were the leaders in terms of the amount of funds raised. The largest funding rounds were closed by the EigenLayer restaking protocol ($100 million) and the French Zama project ($73 million). The average amount of investments at the early stage of financing was $5 million, and at the late stage — $5.8 million. Compared to 2023, these figures have increased by 25%.
PitchBook experts expect that the volume and pace of investments will continue to increase throughout the year, and venture funds exclude significant fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market.
Earlier, Bitwise investment director Matt Hougan said that in January-March, pension and hedge funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors invested billions of dollars in bitcoin ETFs.