2021 was a stellar year for crypto venture capital (VC) funding. This led to more activity in the world of venture capitalism. So, what are the top crypto VC funds to take notice of in 2022 and 2023?
VC Funds in the Last Year
Increased risk appetite and loose monetary policy led crypto startups to receive $25.2 billion in 2021 compared to just $3.1 billion the year before, according to a CB Insights report.
Additionally, over 1,000 blockchain deals were executed in the year, surpassing 2020’s level of 662.
According to a separate report from Galaxy Digital Research, VCs still invested over $10 billion in crypto startups during Q1 of 2022 despite the downturn in the broad market.
And while total VC funding in the crypto space fell from nearly $7 billion in April to just over $4 billion in May, it’s significantly higher than $2.2 billion a year ago in May 2021, according to Dove Metrics data.
The Top Crypto VC Funds
Now, let’s check out some of the notable VC funds in the cryptocurrency industry that are investing in the future:
Jump Crypto
The crypto-based investment arm of traditional proprietary trading firm Jump Trading has offices in North America, Europe, and Asia and investments in the likes of Solana, Terra, Wormhole, and Fantom.
Digital Currency Group
The parent company of crypto asset management firm Grayscale Investments, brokerage firm Genesis Trading, and media platform Coindesk, DCG has invested in over 100 different companies.
It includes Coinbase, Kraken, Circle, Ledger, Ripple, and ShapeShift.
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Coinbase Ventures
The investment arm of crypto exchange Coinbase has investments in projects like BlockFi, Compound, Starkware, and many more.
They have amassed billions of dollars in assets under management and aim to invest in early-stage crypto and blockchain startups.
Binance Labs
This one is the investment arm of leading crypto exchange Binance that leverages its DEX to invest in projects and has stakes in Terra, Moonbeam, and Coin98, among others.
In June 2022, it closed a $500 million fund to boost Blockchain, Web3.0, DeFi, NFTs, gaming, social, Metaverse, and more.
Paradigm
Founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and Sequoia Capital partner Matt Huang, Paradigm counts Argent, Optimism, and OpenSea among its portfolio.
Late in 2021, the firm announced the industry’s largest fund at the time at $2.5 billion.
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Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
This VC giant was founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen, and Ben Horowitz has been investing in the crypto sector for over five years now, covering Coinbase, Celo, MakerDAO, and others.
In May 2022, it broke records by raising a $4.5 billion fund dedicated to crypto.
Sequoia Capital
Another traditional VC fund, Sequoia, recently started investing in blockchain-based companies, their most famous being Robinhood, Polychain Capital, and Band Protocol.
Polychain
Founded by Olaf Carson-Wee, who started as the head of risk and product manager at Coinbase, Polychain is one of the most significant crypto-based investments.
This VC’s most notable investments are in Acala, Celo, and dYdX.
Multicoin
This “thesis-driven investment firm” is a crypto-native fund that participates in staking, liquidations, and other crypto operations. Its portfolio covers Audius, Arweave, and Near Protocol.
Pantera Capital
Pantera has been investing in blockchain-based solutions since 2013 and boasts stakes in Coinbase, FTX, Polkadot, and others.
Draper VC
Founded in 1985 by Tim Draper as Draper Associates and then turned into a VC firm, they have positions in Bancor, MakerDAO, and Tezos, as well as Coinbase, Ledger, Bitwage, and CryptoMove.
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Framework Ventures
With a focus on “the global transition to decentralized technology,” this thesis-driven VC firm holds investments in DeFi protocols like Fei, Rari, and Zapper.
ConsenSys Ventures
The investment arm of Ethereum tools developer ConsenSys, whose product list includes MetaMask and Infura, has stakes in Coinhouse, Matter Labs, and Canza Finance.
Their focus is on incubating and accelerating startups working in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Galaxy Digital
Ths digital assets management fund was founded by hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz and invests only in cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and companies that operate in the space, such as Flipside Crypto and Certora.
Fabric Ventures
This London-based DeFi VC, which is backed by OpenOcean and Firestartr, has made 20+ investments and counts its stakes in Angle, Liquid, and Hashflow.
Animoca Brands
One of the metaverse funding space leaders, Animoca Brands, counts The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, and several other projects in its portfolio.
This Hong Kong-based game software company and VC firm was founded in 2014 by Yat Siu.
Genblock Capital
Counting gaming-oriented projects Aurory, Efinity, and Bloktopia among its significant investments, Genblock Capital has been involved in the blockchain space since early 2017 with a focus on DeFi and the metaverse.
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Union Square Ventures
This firm has invested in over 100 companies such as Stripe, Quizlet, and Stack Overflow, and in the crypto space, it has stakes in Coinbase, Protocol, and Numerai.
The fund leverages networks and protocols to allow trusted companies to broaden access to knowledge and capital.
Dragonfly Capital Partners
This VC firm focuses on investing in revolutionary opportunities in the crypto sector and helps early-stage projects become fully developed crypto-based companies.
Blockchain Capital
Over the past eight years, Blockchain Capital has made over 130 investments in companies in the sector, including Coinbase, OpenSea, Bolt, Ripple, Circle, Kraken, Blockstream, and Anchorage.
They have amassed an impressive $1.8 billion in assets under management.
PetRock Capital
This Singapore-based VC is focused on multichain protocols. Founded by alumni from Goldman Sachs, BCG, and PwC, they have invested in projects like Step Finance, Klima DAO, and Raydium.
Summary
Besides all these big names, other prominent VC firms in the crypto sector include Placeholder VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, DRW, BlockTower Capital, Fidelity Digital Assets, Bain Capital Ventures, Winklevoss Capital, Signum Capital, Slow Ventures, Layer1, Circle Fund, Arrington XRP Capital, Benchmark Capital, TRGC, and 3 Big DeFi VC funds.
Over the past few years, as crypto gained mainstream adoption, venture capital investing in the sector also continued to rise to new levels, with 7% of all global VC funding going into crypto in 2022.
