Following a meteoric boom in 2021—with more than $21 billion in VC capital invested into crypto startups and an equally acute correction period in 2022—the blockchain and cryptocurrency market of today is more tempered, but nonetheless favorable for growth. Despite an ongoing trend toward increased regulatory oversight, the space continues to reflect a bullish sentiment, with crypto market capitalization experiencing a 53.8% quarter-over-quarter increase at the end of 2023.
The performance of Bitcoin (BTC) and Etherium (ETH), the two largest crypto assets by market cap, account for much of this market growth, supported by new approvals from the Securities and Exchanges Comission (SEC). Other cryptocurrencies like Solana and Avalanche are also showing notable growth, though even high-performing altcoins still have a ways to go before reaching their peak-2021 metrics. Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols are also experiencing some positive momentum, reporting their highest user adoption since the crash of FTX in 2022.
With blockchain protocols now in a more favorable environment and experiencing more institutional adoption, VC firms are beginning to reengage with the space. According to PitchBook’s Q4 2023 Crypto Report, the crypto VC market experienced its first positive quarter since Q1 2022—suggesting more fundraising in 2024.
Here we explore some of the top investors in blockchain and crypto, along with some of their recent deals in the current macroeconomic environment.
Top blockchain and cryptocurrency investors by deal count
These are the VC firms with the most investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency as of April 11, 2024. PitchBook Platform data is dynamic and subject to change often, with new deal data added daily. Note that the information below represents a snapshot in time and will become outdated as new deal data becomes available.
1. Coinbase Ventures
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Blockchain and crypto deals: 395
Last deal date in crypto and blockchain: March 2024
Coinbase Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2018 by the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. It specializes in early-stage VC deals, and operates almost exclusively in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space. Some of the firm’s recent investments include NFT gaming ecosystem Everyrealm and DeFi protocol Umoja.
2. NGC Ventures
HQ: Singapore
Blockchain and crypto deals: 300
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
NGC Ventures was founded in 2017 and serves as both an investor and incubator to blockchain and cryptocurrency projects around the world. With $500 million of assets under management, many of the companies they support—like DappOs and Nibiru Chain—focus on utilizing blockchain’s potential for decentralization, with use cases such as decentralized finance and decentralized computing.
3. Shima Capital
HQ: San Francisco, California
Blockchain and crypto deals: 259
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
Founded in 2021, Shima Capital is a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in early-stage cryptocurrency and blockchain startups. In February 2024, the firm made a seed round investment in the cryptocurrency staking company PrismaStake.
4. AU21 Capital
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Blockchain and crypto deals: 257
Last deal date in crypto and blockchain: December 2022
AU21 Capital is a venture capital firm that prefers seed, early-stage, and later-stage investments in companies expanding the frontiers of blockchain technology. Some of the firm’s recent investments include next generation blockchain platform ChainPort and decentralized finance platform Vegaswap.
5. Animoca Brands
HQ: Hong Kong
Blockchain and crypto deals: 228
Last deal date in crypto and block chain: April 2024
Animoca Brands is an NFT platform and application developer with an emphasis on mobile gaming and educational applications. The firm has recently focused on early-stage VC deals, with investments in companies like the decentralized auction platform Burnt and blockchain-enabled transaction service TON.
6. HashKey Capital
HQ: Hong Kong
Blockchain and crypto deals: 220
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
HashKey Capital is the corporate venture capital arm of the HashKey Digital Asset Group, and is primarily focused on fintech-related investments. The firm recently provided early-stage VC funding to blockchain development platform Lumoz and Web3 infrastructure platform Polyhedra Network.
7. LD Capital
HQ: Beijing, China
Blockchain and crypto deals: 218
Last deal date in crypto or blockchain: April 2024
LD Capital focuses on seed, early-stage, and later-stage investments in blockchain securities, equity investment and trading companies. Some of the firm’s recent investments include NFT wallet platform DeMR and crypto staking platform VaultEscrow.
8. Big Brain Holdings
HQ: Weston, Florida
Blockchain and crypto deals: 206
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
Big Brain Holdings is a venture capital firm that specializes in investments related to the cryptocurrency and Web3 sectors. Some of its recent investments include NFT gaming platform Planet Mojo, and Entangle, an Etherium-based cross-chain liquidity network.
9. Exnetwork Capital
HQ: Manila, Philippines
Blockchain and crypto deals: 202
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
Founded in 2018 Exnetwork Capital, is a venture capital firm and accelerator that invests in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors, specifically early-stage deals. The firm’s recent blockchain investments include crypto trading platform Solv Protocol and blockchain-based music streaming service Corite.
10. Pantera Capital
HQ: Menlo Park, CA
Blockchain and crypto deals: 193
Last deal date in blockchain and crypto: April 2024
Pantera Capital is a firm with that participates in seed round, early-stage, and later-stage VC funding—primarily in the blockchain and SaaS sectors. It recently invested in decentralized application platform Morph and blockchain-enabled trading service PowerTrade.
11. Binance Labs
HQ: Hong Kong, China
Blockchain and crypto deals: 191
Last deal date in crypto or blockchain: March 2024
Binance Labs is the venture capital arm of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, which provides funding to projects that help grow the wider blockchain ecosystem. Some of the accelerator’s recent investments include blockchain AI game platform Cellula and blockchain-enabled security platform GoPlus Security.
12. Polychain Capital
HQ: San Francisco, California
Blockchain and crypto deals: 190
Last deal date in crypto or blockchain: April 2024
Founded in 2016, Polychain Capital is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California that seeks investments in blockchain and crypto technologies. Some of the firm’s recent investments include blockchain Metaverse platform Hanghai Wanjia and identity wallet developer Clique.
More about blockchain and cryptocurrency
Explore VC activity in growing blockchain and cryptocurrency segments like DeFi and Web3
Read our Emerging Tech Crypto Launch Report
Find out more about where blockchain fits into the larger enterprise fintech landscape
Read our 2024 Enterprise Technology Outlook report
Explore how blockchain is being leveraged in healthcare
Read our blog post Creating industry solutions with blockchain healthcare interoperability
Learn why traditional financial institutions are embracing blockchain and crypto
Read our Analyst Note: Integrating Digital Assets and Crypto Into Traditional Finance
