Reaching the $100 billion mark took only 10 years, with most of it accumulated since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since May 2014, over $100 billion has been raised for cryptocurrency startups. Despite regulatory uncertainty and market volatility, the past decade has seen significant growth in funding, elevating both the ceiling and the floor of the industry.
According to data from TVL aggregator DefiLlama, as of June 16, 2024, the total funding recorded for the cryptocurrency sector stands at $101.35 billion. In May 2014, just five years after Bitcoin’s creation and a year before Ethereum’s launch, the first recorded month of cryptocurrency startup funding was a modest $17.14 million.
Fast forward to May 2024, and industry funding reached $280.25 million for the month—substantially higher than a decade ago, though lower than April 2024’s impressive $777.11 million.
The peak of cryptocurrency startup funding occurred in October 2021, with over $7 billion raised. The second highest month was February 2022, with $3.67 billion.
Recent research indicates that nearly half of all cryptocurrency funding comes from U.S. investors, with the United Kingdom (7.7%) and Singapore (5.7%) taking second and third place, respectively, as of Q2 2023.
Cointelegraph reports a series of high-profile funding deals between late 2023 and the first half of 2024. Together.AI and cross-chain protocol Wormhole each raised $225 million in late 2023, while open-source cloud storage firm Totter and Eigenlayer secured $101 million and $100 million, respectively. Other notable raises included Swan Bitcoin’s $165 million and Blockchain.com’s $110 million.