Global venture capital investment in crypto companies surged to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, marking a notable uptick and signaling a potential resurgence in investor interest.
Data from PitchBook revealed that crypto venture capital flows had peaked at $11.1 billion in the first quarter of 2022, followed by seven consecutive quarters of declining volumes, bottoming out at $1.7 billion in the last quarter of 2023.
Robert Le, Senior Analyst at PitchBook, underscored the industry’s nascent stage, highlighting ample opportunities for growth and innovation. Barring any major market downturns, we expect the volume and pace of investments to continue increasing throughout the year,” he commented.
The crypto industry’s meteoric rise in 2020 and 2021, fueled by low interest rates and heightened risk appetite, gave way to a series of setbacks in 2022. Major bankruptcies at crypto firms and disruptions in platform operations rattled investors, triggering a sharp decline in bitcoin’s price.
However, renewed confidence in crypto emerged over the past year, buoyed by regulatory approvals for exchange-traded funds tracking bitcoin’s spot price in the U.S. at the outset of 2024.
Bitcoin has steadily rebounded from its 2022 lows, reaching a fresh all-time high of $73,803.25 in March. Nevertheless, its price trajectory has since encountered challenges, grappling with directionality.