Despite bear market, 2022 fundraisers outpace 2021: Messari

According to Messari’s H1 2022 Fundraising Report, investments in the crypto industry reached $30.3B in the first half of this year, more than all of 2021 combined. This shows that the market rout in the first six months has not shaken investor confidence in blockchain and crypto.

Although a notorious group of CeFi projects collapsed in the second quarter, the industry remained strong in attracting a total of $10.2B of investment, ahead of three other sectors, including infrastructure, DeFi, and Web3 & NFT.

Ethereum Spotlight

according to Report The upward trend in betting on crypto projects in the first half of the year showed steady growth compared to the previous six months, according to data conducted by Messari’s newly acquired fundraising database Dove Metrics. Crypto and traditional funds raised a combined $35.9B over the same period, surpassing the $19B for all of 2021.

Among major industries, investments are heavily skewed toward early-stage projects, suggesting that investors see cryptocurrencies as a nascent industry with huge potential.

Ethereum lost its NFT lead in the first half of the year as other upcoming ecosystems continue to win funding, reflecting this trend well. Ethereum-based projects only get $1.1B through investment, far less than the $2.9B that other network-based projects put together. Notably, Solana-based NFTs have recently gained traction due to low network fees. This is particularly evident in the growing popularity of marketplace Magic Eden, which raised $130 million in June of this year.

On the other hand, Ethereum-based DeFi protocols continued to dominate fundraising during the same period, with 56% and 82% of DeFi funds flowing to Ethereum in Q1 and Q2, respectively. The report added that DEXs and asset management products are the most popular among investors.

CeFi attracts capital despite bankruptcy scandal

Despite being influenced by several well-known brokerages and lending companies, centralized exchanges attracted $3.2B in the first half of the year, far ahead of the second-ranked payments company, which received $1.58B in funding.

As a relatively mature industry in CeFi, half of the financing rounds from January to June exceeded US$10 million, and the total investment reached US$10.2B, down 5.6% from the second half of 2021. Additionally, 40% of infrastructure funding rounds went to Series A or late-stage projects, with smart contract platforms taking the largest share of the funding.

All in all, the report suggests that the intensification of the market meltdown in May and June did not dampen investor confidence in the sector, as trading volumes across sectors did not drop significantly.