Original | Odaily ([@OdailyChina](https://x.com/OdailyChina))
Author | Fu Ruhe ([@vincent31515173](https://x.com/vincent31515173))
In 2024, the investment and financing enthusiasm in the crypto field has decoupled from the overall market performance, and VC tokens no longer dominate the market performance.
At the macro level, the crypto market witnessed many historical moments in 2024, including the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF, the launch of the Ethereum spot ETF, the clarification of regulatory policies in various countries, the Federal Reserve's announcement of interest rate cuts, and the imminent return of Trump to the White House. These positive macro factors have helped Bitcoin successfully break through the important $100,000 mark.
From the perspective of the crypto market itself, meme has become the focus of market attention, and different types of meme at different periods have become the driving force for the market's rise. VC projects have performed poorly, and the linear token release cycle has become a chronic "poison" for VC projects.
Under the comprehensive factors, the number of primary market financing has grown significantly, but the financing amount has been more cautious.
Looking back at the primary market investment and financing activities in 2024, Odaily found that:
● The number of primary market financing in 2024 was 1,295, with a total disclosed financing amount of $9.346 billion;
● The AI sector has shown its strength, with a surge in financing volume in Q4 2024;
● The largest single investment was $525 million in Praxis.
Note: Odaily has categorized all the projects with disclosed financing (actual close time is often earlier than the announcement) in Q1 into 5 tracks based on their business type, target customers, and business model: infrastructure, applications, technology service providers, financial service providers, and other service providers. Each track is further divided into different sub-sectors, including GameFi, DeFi, Non-Fungible Token, payments, wallets, DAO, Layer 1, cross-chain, and others.
2024 Belongs to BTC and Meme Coins
Reviewing the primary market financing overview of the past three years, an important conclusion can be drawn: In 2024, the investment and financing activities in the primary market have gradually decoupled from the overall crypto market performance, and the market sentiment is mainly driven by Bitcoin and the meme sector, while traditional VC projects have performed poorly and can no longer be the core driving force of the market.
From the data analysis, 2022 was the peak period of the previous crypto market cycle, and the primary market financing activities were highly active, with the changes in volume and amount almost synchronizing with the market performance. In the first quarter of 2022, the financing volume reached 562 deals, with an amount of $12.677 billion. However, as the market entered a downward cycle, financing activities contracted rapidly, with the number of deals in the fourth quarter dropping to only 330, and the amount decreasing to $3.375 billion.
2023 saw a continuation of the bear market effect, with the primary market's financing activities and the overall market performance both remaining sluggish. The financing volume and amount continued to decline throughout the year, reaching 232 deals and $1.725 billion respectively in the third quarter, the lowest point in nearly three years. During this stage, the primary market was clearly affected by the overall market trend, with market sentiment and capital activity being suppressed.
2024 has become an important turning point for primary market investment and financing activities. The data shows that the financing volume has rebounded significantly, with 411 deals in the first quarter, an increase of nearly 69% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. However, in contrast to the rebound in financing volume, the financing amount has shown a more cautious performance, with the quarterly total financing amount hovering between $1.8 billion and $2.8 billion. This indicates that while capital activity has recovered to some extent, investors are more conservative in their capital deployment, further demonstrating the decoupling characteristics of the primary market from the overall market.
In terms of market heat distribution, the crypto market performance in 2024 was dominated by Bitcoin and the meme sector, which is in stark contrast to the previous cycle. In the previous cycle, VC projects were usually the core of market hot spots, while in 2024, VC projects have generally performed poorly and are no longer able to have a substantive impact on the market. This phenomenon has made the primary market performance lose its value as a reference indicator for the overall market trend.
The primary market in 2024 has shown a trend of rationalization and independence. After the frenzy of 2022 and the winter of 2023, investors are clearly more cautious and more focused on the actual quality and long-term value of projects, rather than blindly chasing market hot spots. This change may indicate that the primary market is gradually moving away from the traditional crypto market cycle and entering a new stage of development.
The increase in financing volume and the cautious financing amount reflect that VC institutions are more inclined to diversify their investments and be more conservative in capital allocation. This attitude indicates that the return of market heat has not led to a large-scale influx of capital, but has instead prompted investors to pay more attention to those projects with real potential. In other words, the primary market is no longer just a "follower" of market sentiment, but is beginning to play a role in shaping the future market landscape.
The Number of Primary Market Financing in 2024 was 1,295, with a Total Disclosed Financing Amount of $9.346 Billion
According to Odaily's incomplete statistics, there were 1,295 investment and financing events (excluding fund raising and mergers and acquisitions) in the global crypto market in 2024, with a total disclosed amount of $9.346 billion. The financing was distributed across the tracks of infrastructure, technology service providers, financial service providers, applications, and other service providers, among which the application track received the most financing deals, with a total of 606 deals; and the infrastructure track received the highest financing amount, with $3.976 billion.
As shown in the chart, the application track, as the area closest to end-users in the crypto industry, has always been the focus of the primary market. In 2024, the financing performance of the application track achieved double-digit growth compared to 2023, with both the financing volume and amount increasing by about 20%.
The financing performance of the infrastructure track in 2024 was particularly eye-catching. Both the financing volume and amount have increased significantly compared to 2023, with a growth rate of over 50%. Behind this growth is not only the crypto industry's continuous demand for upgrading the technical infrastructure, but also the rise of emerging fields such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) and DePIN (Decentralized Physical Internet Network), which have brought new development opportunities to the infrastructure track.
Overall, the investment and financing activities in the global crypto market in 2024 have shown distinct characteristics, with the application track and the infrastructure track leading in both volume and amount, indicating the market's dual demand for end-user experience and underlying technology upgrades. At the same time, the technology service provider, financial service provider, and other service provider tracks are brewing new opportunities in stable development, especially the financial service provider track, which is expected to see new breakthroughs in 2025 as mainstream finance enters the market.
The AI Sector Has Shown Its Strength, with a Surge in Financing Volume in Q4 2024
According to Odaily's incomplete statistics, the financing events in 2024 were concentrated in the DeFi, infrastructure, and GameFi tracks, with 289 deals in DeFi, 236 deals in infrastructure, and 160 deals in GameFi.
Looking at the distribution of financing in the sub-tracks:
Reviewing the segmented tracks in 2024, the DeFi and infrastructure sectors continued to maintain stable growth, with the highest total financing amount and number. This indicates that the market demand for decentralized finance and underlying technologies remains strong, whether it is the innovation of new DeFi protocols or the continuous optimization of underlying infrastructure such as multi-chain interoperability and blockchain security, which have become the focus of capital attention.
In comparison, the gaming sector performed impressively in the first three quarters, with the number of financing projects stably ranking among the top three, but experienced a significant decline in the fourth quarter, with only 29 projects announcing financing information. This trend reflects the phased weakening of the GameFi hype, and the market is more cautious about its short-term profitability and user growth prospects.
At the same time, the AI sector has rapidly gained popularity, becoming a major highlight of 2024. This track was often co-developed with other areas (such as DeFi and infrastructure) in the early stage and was not separately defined. However, starting from the third quarter, the AI sector gradually stood out, especially in the fourth quarter, with a doubling of both the number and amount of financing. The market has shown a high degree of attention to the application potential of AI+blockchain, and the rise of AI Agents has further ignited the investment enthusiasm of capital in this track.
The largest single investment amount was $525 million for Praxis
From the Top 10 financing list in 2024, it can be seen that although the market environment is volatile, investment institutions still have strong confidence in infrastructure-related projects. The top ten projects are mostly focused on underlying technologies and innovative directions, demonstrating the high expectations of institutions for the future development of this track.
L1 public chains continue to attract large-scale financing. On the list, in addition to the established public chain Avalanche completing a $250 million private equity round, emerging projects such as Monad, Berachain, and Babylon have also shown strong growth momentum. These projects have gained the attention of investors through technological innovation and ecosystem expansion.
Praxis is the financing champion on this list, receiving an impressive $525 million in investment. However, the specific development direction of this project is still relatively vague, mainly due to its adoption of a DAO organizational form for management, which requires application to enter and limits the disclosure of relevant information.
It is worth noting that Paradigm's leading position on the list is evident. As a top venture capital firm, Paradigm led the investment in three major projects on the list - Monad, Farcaster, and Babylon.
