The 10 Biggest Crypto Funding Rounds of 2022

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After starting hot, 2022 has proven to be a tough year for the crypto industry, with the collapse of Terra in May triggering what analysts have dubbed the Last Crypto Winter.

Venture capital firms closed their portfolios as the cold set in. According to data from Crunchbase, global funding for VC-backed crypto startups fell from $8.8 billion in Q1 2022 to $6.2 billion in Q2 to around $3.4 billion. in the third trimester.

With days to go, crypto startups only raised about $2.4 million in the fourth quarter.

Despite the steady decline, some companies still managed to raise stupendous rounds, albeit almost exclusively in the first half. Here is a look back at the biggest crypto funding rounds of 2022:

1. Yuga Labs: $450 million

The company behind the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club announced a $450 million seed round in March led by Andreessen Horowitz. Although the round valued the company at $4 billion, the NFT market has since dried up and Yuga Labs is reportedly under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for selling unregistered securities.

2. ConsenSys: $450 million

Led by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, ConsenSys builds software focused on the Ethereum ecosystem, including the DeFi wallet MetaMask, which has over 30 million monthly active users. In March, ConsenSys announced a $450 million Series D led by ParaFi Capital valuing the company at $7 billion. The company has since come under fire over privacy concerns over its software suite, although Lubin said it was addressing the underlying issues.

3. Polygon: $450 million

Polygon is a layer 2 blockchain platform built on top of Ethereum, with the goal of helping scale the ecosystem for applications ranging from gaming to DeFi. In February, the company announced a $450 million financing led by Sequoia Capital, which also includes Tiger Global and SoftBank. At the time, Polygon’s proprietary token, MATIC, had a market capitalization of $13 billion, although it has since fallen below $7 billion.

4. Circle: $400 million

Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second largest stablecoin behind Tether. In April, it announced a $400 million funding round with investments from traditional financial players including BlackRock and Fidelity. The company also planned to go public via a SPAC merger at a $9 billion valuation, but the deal fell through in December amid uncertainty over SEC approval.

5. FTX USA: $400 million

FTX US, the US arm of the FTX exchange, raised a $400 million Series A funding round in January at a valuation of $8 billion. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need to remember that it was a bad investment for participating funds, including Paradigm, Temasek, Multicoin Capital, and Softbank.

6. FTX: $400 million

Not to miss the fun, offshore exchange FTX also raised $400 million in January, a Series C with the same group of backers valuing the company at $32 billion. The funding round came just months after FTX’s notorious memory round, when it raised $420,690,000 in October 2021 from 69 investors. (Hope the joke doesn’t need to be clarified.) Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly received $300 million after selling his personal stake.

7. Animoca brands: $358.8 million

As the crypto market continues to soar, the Hong Kong-based software and venture capital firm raised a $358.8 million Series A round in January led by Liberty City Ventures for valuation of $5 billion. The company is focused on GameFi, which has become a euphemism for “play to win”, a sector that fell into disuse with the controversy surrounding Axie Infinity.

8. NEAR Protocol: $350 million

NEAR is a blockchain that positions itself as a competitor to Ethereum, providing a platform for developers building decentralized applications. After launching in October 2020, it raised a significant amount of funding, including a $350 million round in April 2022 led by Tiger Global, three months after raising a $150 million round in January. After its cryptocurrency peaked at a market cap of over $12.5 billion in April, it has since fallen to nearly $1 billion.

9. Amber Group: $300 million

Amber Group, a crypto trading firm, raised the only round on this list in the fourth quarter, a $300 million Series C round in December led by Fenbushi Capital US. The announcement is not good news. Instead, it likely served as a lifeline, with Bloomberg reporting that the Singapore-based company dropped a sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC and laid off 40% of its staff. Amber Group was also exposed to FTX.

10. Mysten Labs: $300 million

Coming in at #10, the only Q3 deal on this list is Mysten Labs, closing a $300 million Series B in September, led by FTX Ventures and valuing the company at $2 billion. Mysten is the creator of Sui, a layer-1 proof-of-stake blockchain run by a former Meta employee that has yet to be launched.

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