- This year’s crypto raises have outpaced the previous quarter with over $1.7 billion.
- Notable raises include Eigenlayer and HashKey, which each raised $100 million.
- Memecoins are also generating millions from VCs and retail investors — a sign of bullishness not seen since 2017’s ICO craze.
Crypto markets surged in the first quarter of 2024, and with it came $1.7 billion in fresh capital for new crypto projects.
With days left in the quarter, crypto raises have already outpaced the preceding three-month period, which saw $1.58 billion raised.
Fundraising activity can indicate that investors are planning for higher yields over mid- to long-term timeframes, and sentiment is euphoric. Bitcoin is hovering above $70,000 after earlier this month reaching an all-time high of $73,500. The ride to new highs is winning over investors in new crypto projects.
At the top of this quarter’s venture capital heap is the Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer and Asia-based digital asset services group HashKey. Each firm raised $100 million in Series A funding rounds.
VC firms making moves include Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, a16z crypto, and OKX Ventures.
Crypto projects raised less than $6.2 billion in 2023 — a far cry from the $22 billion raised in 2022, according to DefiLlama data.
Memecoins
Memecoins have also driven much of the funds raised in 2024, particularly on the Solana blockchain, where the joke-driven coins surpassed Ethereum in transactions.
Memecoin funding occurs via seed rounds and initial coin offerings, with projects such as MiladyWifHat and SMOLE recently generating as much as $17.6 million and $32.6 million, respectively.
Seed rounds and ICOs allow investors — including retail investors — to buy into projects before launch.
However, they’re not without risk. Scams and rug pulls have caused millions in losses amid the memecoin frenzy — a trend born during the ICO craze of 2017, which culminated in a market-wide crash in 2018.
One recent example of a seed round snafu involves the launch of the Slerf token. A developer error led to $10 million in losses for seed investors, followed by a massive jump in the token’s price.
Tyler Pearson is a junior markets correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at ty@dlnews.com.