Crypto venture deals plunged 33% in worst quarter since 2020

Crypto venture funding activity dried up by 33% over the past three months down to just over $1 billion.
Raises came in at $352 million in September, marking a 77% drop from the same month last year.

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Venture funding activity into DeFi and crypto projects fell 33% between the second and third quarters of 2023. Last month’s deal activity marked the worst September since 2020.

Let’s dig in!

Deal flow falls

Crypto companies and DeFi projects just closed their worst quarter since 2020, with the sector securing just north of $1 billion in venture capital across 144 deals between July and September, according to data from DeFiLlama.

Venture funding is down 50% from the first quarter of 2023 — when 228 projects topped up their coffers by a combined $2 billion — and 33% from the $1.5 billion bagged by 171 blockchain-based ventures in the second quarter.

Globally, the industry raised $460 million in July, $283 million in August, and $352 million in September — marking a 77% drop year-to-year drop from September 2022 when the industry bagged $1.5 billion.

Investors have not injected this little capital since the third quarter of 2020 when the industry raised a little over $924 million according to DeFiLlama data.

Crypto custodian BitGo raised the quarter’s biggest deal in August when it secured $100 million in a Series C round at a $1.75 billion valuation.

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Other notable deals include Flashbots’ Series B of $60 million, and Futureverse’s $54 million Series A round, both of which occurred in July.

Venture deals in crypto.

Crypto market movers

Bitcoin popped about 3% to above $28,000 on Monday for the first time since mid-August.
Ethereum traded just below $1,700 on Monday, up 0.4% in the last 24 hours.
Solana soared back into the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation on CoinGecko over the last few days. The altcoin gained 6.4% to $24, it’s now up over 22% over the last week.

What we’re reading

Tom Carreras is a markets correspondent at DL News. He is based out of Costa Rica. Reach out to him at tcarreras@dlnews.com

Adam Morgan McCarthy is DL News’ London-based Markets Correspondent. Got a tip? Reach out at adam@dlnews.com