Crypto is becoming more popular than ever before with blockchain venture capital funds. In 2021, crypto startups raised $25 billion in funding from major VC firms. They received 8 times as much interest compared to 2020, when they’re receiving standardized investments of around 2%. So far this year there have been several unicorns (startups valued at over one billion dollars) that started out by developing blockchain technology for digital currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Here are the top VC rounds in crypto startups in 2022.
Zero Hash - $105M
Zero Hash, the crypto company that’s helping other institutions deal with digital assets and NFTs just raised $105M in a Series D round. The funds will be used to expand globally as well increase their talent pool.
Phantom - $109M
Phantom, a leading crypto wallet that supports Solana and Metamask has risen $109M in funding. The round was led by Paradigm with participation from other prominent players like VCG Group (X). This investment will help Phantom expand its reach into new markets while also doubling down on security for current users.
Lukka - $110M
The crypto data and enterprise services company, Lukka has raised a new $110M round led by Marshall Wace. The valuation is now at 1.3B dollars as they expand their global footprint with the help from this Series E funding.
Rain Financial - $110M
The crypto world has been waiting for Rain Financial to launch in more countries, and it looks like the company is finally ready. In February they announced that their service will be expanding into Turkey starting March. The Middle East based exchange already operates within Lebanon, Jordan & Israel but now customers can enjoy access from even more nations with Pakistan coming soon after MVP testing complete later this year.
iTrustCapital - $125M
iTrust Capital is a crypto IRA software provider, making it possible for investors to invest in cryptocurrencies through familiar investment vehicles. The company offers 25 different currencies and has grown immensely since its beginning last year- with $125M raised from Left Lane Capital alone (valued at 1/3rd of billion dollar plus).
Autograph - $170M
The $170 million Series B round for Autograph is led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins along with other leading venture capital firms.
The new NFT platform, Autograph is set to become a key place for collecting and trading collectibles. Co-founded by sports celebrity is Tom Brady.
Helium - $200M
In a world where centralized networks are everywhere, Helium is breaking new ground by being decentralized. The crypto powered telecom network recently rose $200M in Series D funding from Tiger Global and FTX Venture to further develop their services. They will provide faster speeds while maintaining an open ecosystem for all users across different countries with no limits.
Alchemy - $200M
Blockchain infrastructure company, Alchemy is announced that they have raised $200M in a new funding round. The money comes from Lightspeed and Silver Lake as well as other institutional investors who value the business at 10 billion dollars.
Aleo - $200M
Aleo has been one of the more successful projects in bringing ZKPs to crypto, which provides an increase not only security but also decentralization and privacy. The company just raised $200M Series B led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Kora Management that will help them continue their success with this trend while developing new products for investors everywhere.
Blockdaemon - $207M
Blockdaemon is an industry leader in blockchain services with over 100k nodes running their platform and helping to support the networks for all types of coins. The company just raised a Series C round lead by Sapphire Energy Group at $207M valuation past year’s end followed closely behind Tiger Global Management bringing Blockdasque’ s worth up nearly 50%.
OpenSea - $300M
People are finding new ways to express themselves with digital art. The growth of OpenSea, a marketplace for NFTs has enabled people all over the world to buy and sell various forms of crypto-based artwork that was not possible before its existence. As seen in 2021 when sales reached record levels at almost $25B worth traded on this platform alone. With more platforms entering into tokenization so too does interest rise – but only time will tell if they can keep up.
FTX - $400M
The crypto world was abuzz with the success of FTX, one of Canada’s leading exchanges. The new Series C round values this company at $32B and it has been exponential growth in just a few years. The sister exchange also raised 400 million dollars from US customers which makes them valued 8 billion dollars on the beginning of 2022.
Polygon - $450M
Polygon is one of the fastest-growing networks in crypto, becoming the blue-chip Layer 2 solution to solve Ethereum congestion issues.
Polygon just received one of the biggest rounds in crypto, raising $450M from Sequoia Capital.
Fireblocks - $550M
Crypto world is always changing and so are the players in it. Fireblocks has been around for over two years, helping to keep your digital assets secure with custody from some of today’s top financial institutions including Spark Capital & D1 capital group.
Not only has this crypto company raised over $550 million in a new funding round, but they also just went public six months ago and are valued at 8 billion dollars.