Despite the dire crypto market situation, crypto companies managed to raise huge funds last year. For example, Polygon (MATIC) raised $450 million in funding under the direction of Sequoia Capital with the participation of Tiger Global and SoftBank.
7 surprising crypto finances of 2022
As you follow on Kriptokoin.com, 2022 has made a promising start for the crypto market. However, it has had a rough year followed by the crashes that fueled the most recent crypto winter. As winter hits, VC firms have closed their wallets. According to statistics, global funding for VC-backed crypto businesses was $8.8 billion in the first quarter of 2022. However, it fell to $6.2 billion in the second quarter and about $3.4 billion in the third quarter. Also, crypto startups only raised around $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Still, some businesses managed to raise enormous funds despite continued declines, albeit almost exclusively in the first half of the year.
Here is the list of the biggest crypto funds of 2022, including MATIC:
Yuga Labs: $450 million
In March, a $450 million funding was launched in crypto headed by Andreessen Horowitz by the organization that manages the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club. By the way, at the time of the tour, the company was worth only $ 4 billion. However, the NFT market has since collapsed. Also, Yuga Labs is under an SEC investigation for apparently selling unregistered securities.
ConsenSys: $450 million
ConsenSys is led by Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum. The company creates software targeting the Ethereum ecosystem. ConsenSys raised $450 million in March with its lead investor, ParaFi Capital. It also added $7 billion in value to the firm. However, since then the business has come under criticism for privacy issues with the software suite. But Lubin said the company has resolved these issues.
Polygon (MATIC): $450 million
Polygon (MATIC) is a Layer-2 Blockchain built on Ethereum that aims to expand the ecosystem for applications ranging from gaming to DeFi. The project announced in February that it had raised $450 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Tiger Global and SoftBank. Meanwhile, Polygon’s own token, MATIC, had a market cap of $13 billion at the time. However, it later fell below $7 billion.
Circle: $400 million
Circle is the creator of USDC, the second largest stablecoin after Tether (USDT). In April, it announced a $400 million capital round, including contributions from traditional finance names such as BlackRock and Fidelity. The business also planned to go public through a US$9 billion SPAC merger. However, later the deal fell through.
FTX: $400 million
Crypto exchange FTX also raised $400 million in January. In this process, the value of the company was 32 billion dollars. It’s been just a few months since FTX’s infamous ‘breast round’ on October 20, 2021, when it raised $420 million from 69 investors. Meanwhile, the company reported that it had raised $300 million after selling Sam Bankman-Fried’s personal stake.
Animoca Brands: $358 million
The Hong Kong-based software and venture firm received a $358 million Series A investment in January. Liberty City Ventures led the round, with a $5 billion valuation while the crypto market is still surging.
NEAR Protocol: $350 million
NEAR Protocol provides a platform for programmers to build decentralized applications. Therefore, the leading Blockchain is considered a competitor to Ethereum. After its October 2020 launch, it has received substantial funding, including a $350 million round in April 2022. Tutu directed Tiger Global. It also took place three months after the $150 million round in January. Altcoin market cap reached a record high of over $12.5 billion in April. However, it now stands at just over $1 billion.
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