Cryptocurrencies Bagged Largest Investment So Far in 2021, Beating Previous Records: Report

Cryptocurrencies managed to bag $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,27,617 crore) in funding and investment from venture capital firms.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 20 December 2021 17:32 IST

Cryptocurrencies Bagged Largest Investment So Far in 2021, Beating Previous Records: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Executium

Crypto investors are funding “anything and everything” around the sector

Highlights

Cryptocurrencies have surpassed the “digital gold” identity
Web3, NFTs, and play-to-earn gaming saw notable investments
In 2018, $8 billion (Rs. 60,70 crore) were invested in crypto firms

Quadrupling the previous all-time high recorded in 2018, the crypto space managed to gather more than $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,27,617 crore) in 2021. In 2018, venture capital funds amounting to $8 billion (roughly Rs. 60,704 crore) were seen in the crypto market. As per a report by PitchBook Data, the perception towards cryptocurrencies has gone beyond seeing it as “digital gold” this year. The major boom in the crypto market comes in the backdrop of Bitcoin registering a breakthrough gain of 1,300 percent.

As per the PitchBook report (via Bloomberg), investors are funding “anything” and “everything” around cryptocurrencies.

“We've moved beyond just digital gold. We've got financial services, art, gaming as a subcategory of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Web 3.0, decentralised social media, play-to-earn — all of that made investors think ‘we don't have enough exposure,'” the Bloomberg report quoted Spencer Bogart, general partner at investment venture firm Blockchain Capital.

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This significant funding that the crypto space has garnered in 2021 includes fundraising by crypto-related firms like Robinhood and Revolut.

In the US alone, around $7.2 billion (roughly Rs. 54,628 crore) were poured in crypto-related deals, making up for a four-time growth since 2018.

Earlier in December, crypto investment platform Stacked raised $35 million (roughly Rs. 263 crore) in a funding round led by quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research and crypto-start-up investment firm, Mirana Ventures.

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In October, crypto exchange platform WOO Network bagged $30 million (roughly Rs. 223 crore) from various investors in a Series A funding round.

The same month, a US-based NFT company called Candy Digital also secured $100 million (roughly Rs. 747 crore) in a Series A funding round co-led by private equity firms Insight Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund.

Other findings have revealed that the NFT sector has evolved from being niche into something bigger, an observation which coincides with previous reports highlighting the growth of this digital collectibles sector.

In the third quarter of 2021, NFT sales volume surged to $10.7 billion (roughly Rs. 79,820 crore), up by over eightfold from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar.

Despite adoption reluctance due to decentralised nature and volatility, the crypto space seems to be blossoming in several parts of the world.

El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender in September.

The crypto market in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa together saw a growth of 1,200 percent, reaching a market valuation of $105.6 billion (roughly Rs. 775 crores) in one year, a report by Chainalysis claimed in September.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, NFT, Crypto, Web3

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More