The investment and financing enthusiasm in the crypto field in 2024 has decoupled from the overall market performance, and VC tokens no longer dominate the market performance.
At the macro level, the crypto market in 2024 witnessed many historical moments, 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 growth in the number of primary market financing has been relatively large, but the financing amount has been more cautious.
Looking back at the primary market investment and financing activities in 2024, Odaily found that:
● In 2024, there were 1,295 primary market financing events, with a total disclosed financing amount of $9.346 billion;
● The AI sector has shown its edge, with a surge in financing volume in Q4 2024;
● The largest single investment was $525 million in Praxis.
Note: Odaily categorized all the projects that disclosed financing (with actual close time often earlier than the announcement) in Q1 into 5 major 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, with the market sentiment 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, in 2022, which was the peak period of the previous crypto market cycle, the primary market financing activities were highly active, with changes in the number and amount almost synchronizing with the market performance. In the first quarter of 2022, the financing volume reached 562 events, with an amount of $12.677 billion. However, as the market entered a downward cycle, financing activities contracted rapidly, with the number of events dropping to only 330 in the fourth quarter, 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 both performing poorly. The number and amount of financing continued to decline throughout the year, reaching 232 events and $1.725 billion 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 number of financing events has rebounded significantly, with 411 events in the first quarter, an increase of nearly 69% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. However, in contrast to the rebound in the number of financing events, the financing amount has been more cautious, hovering between $1.8 billion and $2.8 billion per quarter throughout the year. 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 performance.
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 the number of financing events and the cautious financing amount reflect that VC firms 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 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.
In 2024, the Primary Market Saw 1,295 Financing Events 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, distributed across the infrastructure, technology service provider, financial service provider, application, and other service provider tracks. The application track received the most financing events, with 606 events, while the infrastructure track received the highest financing amount, reaching $3.976 billion. These two tracks led the others in both financing amount and number of events.
As shown in the image, the application track, as the area of the crypto industry closest to end-users, has always been a focus of the primary market. In 2024, the financing performance of the application track achieved double-digit growth compared to 2023, with both the number of financing events and the financing amount increasing by about 20%.
The financing performance of the infrastructure track in 2024 was particularly eye-catching. Both the number of financing events and the financing amount have increased significantly by more than 50% compared to 2023. Behind this growth is not only the crypto industry's continued demand for upgrading the technical infrastructure, but also the rise of new areas 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 the number of events and the financing 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 Edge, with a Surge in Financing Volume in Q4 2024
According to Odaily's incomplete statistics, in 2024, the financing events were concentrated in the DeFi, infrastructure, and GameFi tracks, with 289 events in DeFi, 236 events in infrastructure, and 160 events in GameFi.
Looking at the distribution of financing in the sub-tracks:
Throughout 2024, the DeFi and infrastructure tracks continued to maintain stable growth, with the highest total volume and number of financing events. This indicates that the market's demand for decentralized finance and underlying technology 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 a stable ranking among the top three in terms of financing volume, 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 traction, becoming a major highlight in 2024. This track often co-develops with other areas (such as DeFi and infrastructure) and has not been separately defined. However, starting from the third quarter, the AI sector has gradually stood out, especially in the fourth quarter, with a doubling of both the number and amount of financing. The market is highly focused on the application potential of AI+blockchain, and the rise of AI Agents has further ignited the investment enthusiasm of capital for 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 almost all focused on underlying technology and innovative directions, demonstrating the high expectations of institutions for the future development of this track.
Layer 1 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 remains relatively vague, mainly due to its adoption of a DAO organizational form for management, which restricts the disclosure of relevant information.
It is worth noting that Paradigm's dominant position on the list is evident. As a top-tier venture capital firm, Paradigm has led investments in three major projects on the list - Monad, Farcaster, and Babylon.
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