Is VC crypto funding running out of puff? (Getty Images)
Crypto funding: KPMG says investments are slowing, while 21.co raises $25m making it a ‘double unicorn’
Coinhead
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The parent company of crypto investment firm 21Shares, 21.co, might not be on the same page, but the major accounting firm KPMG has predicted a slowing in major crypto-funding investments to close out the year.
According to a KPMG report titled Pulse of Fintech H1’22 and released just yesterday, venture capital firms threw about US$14.2 billion into crypto and blockchain-related enterprises in the first half of 2022.
That’s quite a bit, but interestingly it’s significantly lower than another H1 fundraising report recently conducted – by crypto industry-research insiders Messari and Dove Metrics.
Their figures actually pointed to a record year to the end of June, totalling US$30.3 billion in funding across all sectors of the industry. More than double the action KPMG’s reporting.
That little discrepancy aside, given current market conditions and ongoing macroeconomic fog, Coinhead has no reason to doubt KPMG’s VC-investment-slowing prediction.
Well, that is, other than the fact we’ve been seeing some pretty sizeable investments in the second half of this year so far. Case in point:
CoinFund’s US$300m mega raise; Shima Capital’s US$200m; 776’s US$177.6m venture; Animoca Brands’ US$75m and US$45m raises; Halborn‘s US$90m splurge; Lattice Capital‘s US$60m spend.
And there are plenty of others we haven’t quite got to yet besides. We’ll aim to do another comprehensive crypto-funding roundup soon.
Macro factors to spoil the 2022 investment party, predicts KPMG
The KPMG report highlights the largest investments in H1 2022 coming from German-based crypto trading platform Trade Republic (US$1.1 billion), digital-asset custody platform Fireblocks (US$550 million), crypto exchange FTX (US$500 million), and Ethereum software company ConsenSys ($450 million).
Google, by the way, has been investing into one of those companies mentioned by KPMG – Fireblocks. In fact, Google’s parent company Alphabet has poured at least US$1.5 billion into various crypto companies over the past year or so.
KPMG’s Global Leader of Fintech, Anton Ruddenklau, noted that the investment figures the accountancy firm is using for the first half of 2022 were already more than double all years prior to 2021, which he said “highlights the growing maturity of the space and the breadth of technologies and solutions attracting investment”.
Ruddenklau went on to predict, however, that over-investment during 2021 and first half of 2022, along with potential recesssion, inflation, interest rate hiking, and war in Eastern Europe, will curb investment enthusiasm for the rest of this year.
Crypto firm 21.co becomes Switzerland’s largest unicorn
The round was led by London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace, with participation from Collab+Currency, Quiet Ventures, ETFS Capital, and Valor Equity Partners.
“With this round of financing, 21.co will continue to drive rapid, targeted growth through first-of-their-kind products, key market expansions and strategic talent acquisitions,” 21.co said in a statement.
The company’s largest subsidiary, 21Shares, is reportedly the world’s largest issuer of cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) using its proprietary platform Onyx.
In fact, as reported by Decrypt, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest partnered with 21Shares on an application to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US. That application was rejected in the first instance earlier this year by the Securities Exchange Commission, and more recently was given the old “Yeah, we’ll see” on a resubmitted filing.
That’s been the story for all BTC spot ETF attempts so far, as anyone who’s been following that little crypto subplot for the past year will be fully aware.
