PANews reported on May 20 that according to Reuters, Pitchbook data showed that as expectations of lower interest rates and the launch of the first Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States stimulated investor interest, cryptocurrency startup financing grew for the second consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2024, reaching US$2.4 billion. The financing amount in this quarter was distributed in 518 transactions, an increase of 40.3% from the previous quarter. During the same period, global venture capital investment fell to a nearly five-year low. The largest transaction was completed by the decentralized cloud platform Together AI, which raised US$106 million in early financing led by Salesforce Ventures, and the company was valued at US$1.1 billion.
“Competition for investment rounds has become very intense, especially at the early stages,” said Pitchbook analyst Robert Le. “This is further complicated by the fact that early-stage deals are valued higher than later-stage deals, but ... we’ll see if this trend continues in the coming quarters." Exits remain low, however. Le expects consolidation to accelerate later this year as the market matures, especially among cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians and infrastructure providers.