Venture capital year in review 2021: Cointelegraph Research Terminal

2 years ago

2021 was an absorbing twelvemonth successful the crypto world. Bitcoin (BTC) deed all-time highs successful respective antithetic metrics including adoption, media sum and terms action. It has been breathtaking to spot each of the sum and attraction being paid to everything crypto including involvement successful nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized concern (DeFi) and adjacent ample publically traded companies similar MicroStrategy holding superior amounts of BTC connected its equilibrium sheet. All of this is the nationalist look of the crypto industry. 

However, this does not hap connected its own. There are teams of radical and projects moving each time to amended existing applications for crypto and trying to beryllium the adjacent DeFi phenomenon, NFT craze oregon solution to a bequest occupation that lone blockchain tin efficiently solve.

Pulling from the Cointelegraph Research Terminal’s database of task capitalist deals, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, investors and crypto companies, this 12-page study shows insights from concern activities successful 2021. The study brings meaningful insights into the trends implicit the past fewer years and what VCs concentrated connected successful 2021.

The adjacent block

The adjacent stages of the blockchain gyration are gathering down the scenes, but this takes time, and an important facet that tin beryllium overlooked is superior investment. Venture Capital (VC) tin travel from galore antithetic sources specified arsenic high-net-worth individuals (HNWI), household offices, institutions, funds and adjacent decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs).

Knowing what is being built, who is down it and the web helping to physique a task tin assistance funny parties get a limb up connected the aboriginal of the blockchain industry, arsenic opposed to speechmaking online quality articles astir the results aft the fact.

Download the afloat study here, implicit with charts and infographics.

The Cointelegraph Research Terminal, successful conjunction with Keychain Ventures, volition people quarterly reports connected the events down the scenes connected the inflows of superior from VC into the blockchain industry. Before publishing the 2022 Q1 VC report, Cointelegraph Research volition merchandise a 12-page study that highlights VC enactment successful 2021.

Venture superior involvement successful crypto and blockchain is connected the rise

2021 saw an unprecedented emergence successful progressive deals and full superior inflows. In 2020, determination were 838 deals with an aggregate superior full of $4.9 billion. The fig of deals jumped successful 2021 to 1349 deals and conscionable nether $30.5 cardinal successful superior investments.

The worldwide interaction of COVID-19 accelerated involvement successful integer assets, and mainstream firms specified arsenic Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Nike each invested heavy into antithetic sectors of the blockchain abstraction including DeFi, infrastructure and NFTs.

The apical 10 astir progressive VC funds comprised astir 65% of each idiosyncratic woody enactment successful 2021. Nine of the 10 favored DeFi for concern successful 2021, but for Animoca Brands, which went against the norm and heavy invested successful NFTs. 

The 2nd astir invested assemblage was NFTs, and 3rd spot was shared betwixt Web3 and Infrastructure. CeFi, interestingly enough, was the slightest invested sector. Only Alameda Research and Coinbase Ventures invested successful the double-digit percentages of their wide activity.

Considering each idiosyncratic investments successful 2021, the bulk of VC concern rounds were successful Pre-Seed & Seed Rounds. However, these rounds did not summation the top superior backing compared to others. Series B, for example, had lone 61 rounds yet garnered $6.8 billion. Post-Series B's Expansion rounds, which see indebtedness financing, strategical partnerships, and treasury diversification, had implicit 200 rounds and astir $10.27 cardinal successful investments.

Mostly acquisitions successful the satellite of crypto 2021 M&A

There were important deals successful the Mergers & Acquisitions section successful 2021. The large attraction connected acquisitions implicit mergers successful the concern rhythm signifier of the blockchain manufacture does marque sense, arsenic it has not reached immoderate existent maturity level yet.

While astir each woody connected this database was of precocious importance, respective basal retired for their greater import to the blockchain manufacture and the absorption of markets successful general. These see Mastercard acquiring CipherTrace, PayPal's procurement of Curv, Visa obtaining Tink, and Nike buying RTFKT Studios.

These strategical purchases person important meanings for Mastercard, PayPal, and Visa's actions volition grow each corporation's engagement successful DeFi and Infrastructure specified arsenic fiat connected and off-ramps, outgo gateways, and systems that leverage blockchain's unsocial technological advantages similar triple-ledger accounting. Nike's acquisition of RTFKT Studios shows a willingness to clasp the expanding marketplace involvement successful NFTs, which tin person a ample interaction connected the sports world.

Quarterly VC reports from Cointelegraph Research Terminal and Keychain Ventures

The study pulls from Cointelegraph Research Terminals' expansive database on with investigation from Michael Tabone, an Economist from Cointelegraph Research. Michael has an extended inheritance successful economics, business, finance, cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and moving with emerging technologies. Besides moving for Cointelegraph Research, Michael is simply a Ph.D. campaigner moving connected his dissertation, which is focused connected the mentation and exertion of DAOs.

Keychain Ventures is simply a crypto concern steadfast that engages successful investing antithetic funds successful the blockchain space. Keychain Ventures, on with Cointelegraph Research, volition beryllium presenting quarterly interviews with VC firms arsenic good arsenic crypto/blockchain projects which person precocious gone done a backing round. These interviews volition unfastened up antithetic viewpoints of concern practices from each parties.

This nonfiction is for accusation purposes lone and represents neither concern proposal nor an concern investigation oregon an invitation to bargain oregon merchantability fiscal instruments. Specifically, the papers does not service arsenic a substitute for idiosyncratic concern oregon different advice.

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