Surging Bitcoin Sparks Revolutionary Rise in Crypto Venture Funding

Crypto venture funding has experienced its first increase in nearly two years after the stellar performance of Bitcoin in 2023, with total investment in the fourth quarter reaching $1.9bn, according to PitchBook. The increase in funding has been driven by the rise in crypto asset prices and the market valuations of companies such as Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and MicroStrategy. Notable fundraisers during the quarter included cryptocurrency exchanges Swan Bitcoin and Blockchain.com, which raised $165m and $100m respectively. However, while the total amount of investment increased, the number of deals declined by 2.4%, indicating that the strongest startups are receiving the most funding. In terms of the sectors that received funding, finance and technology solutions were the most notable, particularly in areas such as asset tokenisation and decentralised computing infrastructure.