Crypto’s Rollercoaster Year: Venture Capital Insights Amidst the FTX Fallout

The Year of Crypto Turmoil

Let’s face it, 2022 was not the year for crypto fanatics to pop the champagne. With the staggering collapse of FTX serving as the cherry on top of a sundae loaded with regrets, the crypto world saw a seismic shake-up. Not to mention, alongside FTX’s dramatic exit, the likes of Celsius, Voyager, and BlockFi also waved the white flag. This series of closures did more than just put a dent in wallets; they bulldozed around $1.5 trillion from the cryptocurrency landscape!

Venture Capital: The Numbers Don’t Lie

While the world of cryptocurrencies has been on a crazy rollercoaster, venture capital activity is no exception. Since May 2022, funding in blockchain ventures has been on a downward slope. News flash: November continued this trend as capital inflows dwindled even further. Preliminary evidence suggests VC funding dropped by 4.8%, totaling $840.4 million, a slight decrease from $843 million in October.

Contrasting Trends: How 2022 Stack Against 2021

Now, before you reach for those tear-soaked tissues, it’s not all gloom and doom. Even with the recent downturn, 2022 has trumped 2021 in terms of capital inflow. How much, you ask? A staggering surplus of nearly $6 billion! The total funding across the year soared to $36.1 billion versus 2021’s $30.3 billion. Just goes to show that even with the ups and downs, the crypto-hot ticket is still on some investors’ radars.

Infrastructure Projects: Where the Cash Flowed

If November taught us anything, it’s that blockchain infrastructure projects are catching the eye of the investors. 23 deals were made in the Web3 sector, but guess who took home the biggest slice of the funding pie? That’s right—the blockchain infrastructure sector, raking in over half of the month’s total funding at $483.9 million!

One Company’s Triumph

And let’s not pretend it was evenly distributed; almost half of this bounty was snagged by Matter Labs. This creative company is forging ahead with its Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible zkSync and celebrated a $200 million Series C funding round, wooing investors like Blockchain Capital and Dragonfly. With a total of $458 million raised over various rounds, it seems Matter Labs is having a great year — or at least a much better one than most!

Final Thoughts: Grit, Growth, and the Future

So, while 2022 has been a year of significant challenges for crypto enthusiasts, it also reveals the resilience of the sector. The combination of a greater total funding landscape compared to last year and the dominance of infrastructure projects hints that the crypto space might still have some surprises left. Strap in, folks, because the ride isn’t over yet!