The firm, co-founded by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former Sequoia partner Matt Huang, is looking to tap into institutional interest in the space following a lull in the bear market in venture capital investment.
It would be one of the largest new crypto VC funds raised since the market crash last year, according to an April 3 Bloomberg report. crypto-vc-paradigm-in-talks-to-raise-over-750-million-for-fund” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener” data-wpel-link=”external”>report citing anonymous sources.
The peak of crypto VC fundraising came in May 2022, when venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) raised a $4.5 billion fund.
The return of VC cryptocurrencies
Paradigm previously raised a record $2.5 billion crypto fund in 2021 during the peak of the bull market. However, the company faced scrutiny last year for appearing to downplay and reduce commitment to cryptocurrencies in a pivot toward ai on its website.
Additionally, he invested $278 million in FTX before reducing it to zero after the exchange collapsed, and is part of a lawsuit alleging he granted “legitimacy” to the embattled platform.
Despite these setbacks, Paradigm has continued to back crypto projects, including leading a $1 billion investment round in the software that powers decentralized social media platform Farcaster.
In addition to Paradigm, Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital is raising $100 million for a crypto venture fund. according to Bloomberg.
The company previously invested its own money in several cryptocurrency, infrastructure, and DeFi startups. However, in 2023, Galaxy Digital started Galaxy Ventures Fund I and opened it to outside investors.
In a statement on April 3, the firm said:
“For years we have contributed our own capital to these innovators. “We are now launching Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP to partner with third-party investors, which will allow us to continue driving the digital asset ecosystem by backing promising early-stage companies.”
crypto VC season appears to be here, with Hivemind Capital raising a $50 million nft fund and Hack VC, which announced a $150 million fund in February, looking to raise another $100 million for another investment vehicle.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet”>
Top 10 crypto Fundraising Rounds in Q1 2024
Let's take a look at the top 10 private crypto fundraising rounds completed in Q1 2024, backed by major cryptocurrency investors including twitter.com/a16zcrypto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank”>@a16zcrypto
— BEST 7 ICOs | #StandWithUkraine (@top7ico) twitter.com/top7ico/status/1775067803537564031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank”>April 2, 2024
VC Ecosystem Perspective
According to Wu Blockchain's monthly report, there were a total of 180 publicly announced investment projects in the crypto venture capital space in March. Rounding. This figure is 24% more than in February 2024.
Additionally, the total funding amount for March was $1.16 billion, up 53% from the previous month.
The Optimism Foundation of the ethereum Layer 2 network raised the largest amount of $89 million by selling 19.5 million OP tokens to private investors.
LIMITED OFFER 2024 for CryptoPotato readers on Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 btc-USDT position on the Bybit Exchange for free!
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