Crypto Bull Market Fuels Surge in Venture Capital Funding With Aquarius Leading the Charge
Summary:
With the resurgence of the crypto bull market, venture capital funding rounds in the crypto space are on the rise. On May 16, crypto venture firm Aquarius launched a $600 million multi-strategy fund to boost on-chain liquidity for blockchain and ecosystem projects. Other key developments include the successful funding rounds of digital securities platform Securitize and Ethereum's liquid staking project Puffer Finance. The report also highlighted the drastic recovery of Bitcoin since the fall of the FTX exchange in November 2022.
Crypto's bullish resurgence has led to a remarkably high volume of venture capital (VC) funding rounds. Aquarius, a crypto venture company, unveiled a $600 million multi-strategy fund on May 16 for the purpose of enhancing on-chain liquidity for blockchain foundations and ecosystem projects. Staff at Aquarius informed Cointelegraph that leading entities like Bitrise Capital, renowned miners, and well-off families are supporting the fund. The multi-strategy initiative will also be used to build communities for blockchain infrastructure and early-stage data layer project while creating go-to-market products. The fund, which is the first of its kind, will effectively manage on-chain liquidity and address liquidity needs of various blockchain projects, according to Aquarius. The company, established in Singapore in 2018 by venture capitalist Lin Yang, relocated its headquarters to New York on May 8.
The crypto bull market is driving significant funding for crypto ecosystem projects. As reported by Cointelegraph on May 6, crypto VC funding has exceeded $1 billion for two consecutive months this year. April recorded $1.02 billion in funding across 161 investment rounds, which was slightly below the $1.09 billion amassed in March, a trend that has not been seen since late 2022.
Securitize, a digital securities platform, secured $47 million in early May through a fresh strategic funding round spearheaded by BlackRock. Other investors included blockchain developers Aptos Labs, and stablecoin issuers Paxos and Circle. BlackRock's Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships' Global Head, Joseph Chalom, is set to become a member of Securitize's board. He described the investment as another evolutionary step in their digital asset strategy that will meet the future demands of clients.
In April, Ethereum's liquid staking project, Puffer Finance, successfully completed a Series A funding round that raised $18 million. Coinbase Ventures and Kraken Ventures were among the high-profile investors for the launch of Puffer Finance’s mainnet. The technology of Puffer Finance enables Ethereum validators to drastically cut their original capital requirements to a mere 1 Ether (ETH), down from the 32 ETH required for individual stakers. Shortly after debuting in February, Puffer Finance recorded a total value locked of $1.4 billion.
The market is significantly different from what it was just a year ago. Tony Cheng, a partner at Foresight Ventures in Singapore, suggested in September 2023 that projects should strive to survive by any means necessary, including aggressively raising capital, as the availability of funds may deplete drastically in a short while.
Since November 2022, when Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $16,000 due to the abrupt failure of the crypto exchange FTX, Bitcoin has seen over 300% growth. This surge was driven by the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds globally and the gradual refunding of creditors whose money was stuck on the collapsed exchange. Some venture capitalists anticipate that the current bullish market will lead to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom that will surpass the previous highs of early 2018.
Published At
5/16/2024 6:55:44 PM
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