Despite the ongoing market downturn, the cryptocurrency industry has raised $30.3 billion in funding, more than the amount raised in all of 2021, according to a new report.
In an Aug. 2 report by crypto analytics firm Messari and Dove Metrics, data showed that 1,199 funds were made in centralized finance (CeFi), decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fundamentals $30.3 billion raised in the first-half 2022 round for facilities.
The total amount raised in the six-month period has surpassed the $30.2 billion raised in 1,313 rounds for the whole of 2021.
More than a third of the funds raised went into the CeFi space, with $10.2 billion in funding. There has also been a lot of investment in the infrastructure and NFT space, but DeFi investment appears to have only had $1.8 billion in funding during this period.
CeFI –> Exchanges are also leading the way here. CeFi raised $10.3B in the first six months of the year, with almost half of its funding rounds totaling over $10M pic.twitter.com/i5nIENyMdD
— Dunleavy (@dunleavy89) August 2, 2022
Most of CeFi’s investments have been in cryptocurrency exchanges, raising a total of $3.2 billion. Payment services, market makers and savings/bank account businesses are almost tied for second place.
The Web3 and NFT sector raised $8.6 billion in half a year, with gaming-related NFTs accounting for the lion’s share of investments, raising more than four times more than any other NFT vertical.
Some popular NFT-based crypto games include Axie Infinity, Aavegotchi, CryptoKitties, Galaxy Fight Club, and Gods Unchained.
Related: NFT volume hits yearly low in June, but first-time buyers remain consistent
According to PwC’s latest hedge fund Report In June, 38% of hedge funds now invested in digital assets, up from 21% in 2021.
PricewaterhouseCoopers According to John Garvey, head of global financial services, hedge fund managers are increasingly using crypto to gain a competitive advantage:
“It’s finding alpha. Everyone’s looking for an angle…so how do you go beyond the benchmark? You have to try something different, new and unorthodox.”
