Author: RootData
I. Financing Data
In April, the total financing amount in the crypto primary market was $685 million, a year-on-year decrease of 37.7%. The number of financing projects was 65, continuing to create a new low since February 2021. Although the overall financing amount in March approached $3 billion due to Binance's $2 billion financing, this still could not change the overall downturn in the market.
From the perspective of primary market financing, the largest financing ($153 million) came from blockchain and artificial intelligence infrastructure Auradine, one of whose main businesses is producing diversified Bitcoin mining machines, including air-cooled, immersion, and water-cooled miners. Following that were Layerzero ($55 million), Blackbird ($50 million), and Nous Research ($50 million).
However, if the nature of financing is expanded to include all financing, such as debt financing and post-IPO financing, the overall financing amount in April would exceed $1.5 billion. For example, Sol Strategies completed $500 million in post-IPO financing, Upexi completed $100 million in post-IPO financing, and Bitdeer completed $60 million in debt financing.
These financings were mainly initiated by listed companies in the form of convertible bonds, primarily used to purchase Bitcoin mining machines or directly invest in Bitcoin, with clearer exit paths or more stable cash flows, leading to an increasing amount of funds flowing into this field.
Based on this trend, many companies are also actively promoting IPO plans. In the past month or two, companies such as Circle, Galaxy Digital, Bithumb, Kraken, Antalpha, and Gemini have disclosed clear listing plans.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, there were 7 M&A deals in April, a month-on-month decrease of over 40%. Among them, Ripple acquired cryptocurrency-friendly broker Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, setting a historical record for the value of crypto projects being acquired.
II. VC Dynamics
In April, the most active investors in the crypto primary market were a16z, Coinbase Ventures, and Hack VC, each with more than 5 investments. However, there were fewer than 30 VC funds with 2 or more investments, reflecting a general pessimism among crypto VCs regarding the primary market, with many well-known funds no longer investing.
On April 19, Du Jun, co-founder of ABCDE, stated that the fund has officially stopped investing in new projects and suspended the fundraising plan for its second fund. The original team will continue to be responsible for post-investment support and exit arrangements for existing projects, ensuring that commitments to entrepreneurs and LPs are seriously fulfilled. His personal work focus will gradually shift from financial investments in the primary market to strategic investments combined with deep incubation, with a greater focus on industrial synergy and long-term value creation.
Of course, several funds disclosed fundraising progress this month. According to a Bloomberg report, Galaxy Digital's Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP has exceeded its original fundraising goal of $150 million and is expected to complete its final close at $175 million to $180 million by the end of June. This fund focuses on early-stage startup projects, with a particular emphasis on payments and stablecoins.
Re7 Capital announced the establishment of a $10 million SocialFi special fund aimed at investing in about 30 early-stage projects. The first round of funding has completed 60% subscription.
At the end of the month, ether.fi announced the launch of the crypto-native venture fund ether.fi Ventures, with a scale of $40 million, with David Hsu, a former investor at Breed VC, serving as a partner. Previously, ether.fi had invested in Resolv, Rise Chain, and Symbiotic.
At the beginning of April, Mantra also announced the launch of a $108 million ecosystem fund, planning to filter investment opportunities through its partner network and deploy funds globally to "high-potential blockchain projects." Supporters of the fund include Laser Digital, Shorooq, Brevan Howard Digital, Valor Capital, Three Point Capital, and Amber Group. However, as its token OM collapsed in price in mid to late April, the fund's scale and future sustainability are in doubt.
On April 22, global blockchain payment service provider Astra Fintech announced the establishment of a $100 million fund to support the development of the Solana ecosystem in Asia. The fund will be based in South Korea and primarily invest in projects developing payment financial (PayFi) solutions, facilitating collaboration with developers, businesses, and regulators.
The overall downturn in crypto VC has also led to an increasing number of VC investors exiting. This month, RootData recorded the departures of senior executives from dozens of VC firms, including BlockTower Capital partner David Burke, Pantera Capital research partner Matthew Stephenson, Paradigm research partner samczsun, Polychain investor relations director Nicole Zahrah Civitello, Galaxy general partner Dan Zuller, and Dragonfly partner Ani Pai.
At the same time, VC firms such as ParaFi Capital, Systemic Ventures, Franklin Templeton, 1kx, and 1confirmation have recruited new executives to join.
III. Project Dynamics
In April, the top 10 projects with the highest search volume on RootData were Huma Finance, Babylon, Initia, Sui, Monad, Gensyn, StakeStone, Hyperlane, Axiom, and Towns. Popular projects are mainly distributed across PayFi, Layer1, AI, and other tracks.
At the same time, projects that launched their mainnet include Initia, Immutable Ratings, Loopscale, subs.fun, Hive Intelligence, Felix, Glow Finance, and Haven1. Projects that launched their testnet include Soul and R2 Protocol.
Notable new projects added this month include:
Ethereum R1: A new rollup based on Ethereum's core values.
ZAMM: Decentralized trading protocol
Antifun: A token launch platform aimed at eliminating sniping and MEV
Hold.Money: A crypto card that protects privacy
SolFi: Solana liquidity protocol
Rescue.meme: A MEME launch platform focused on rescuing stray pets launched by Manta Network
Rhythm: A crypto quantitative trading platform
Senpi: AI for on-chain trading
MyCryptoProtocol: AI smart coordination layer
Politiswap: Political trading application
o1.exchange: AI-driven DEX trading
Communa.world: A platform for the RWA ecosystem
babbleOS: AI system
Buzzing Club: A protocol that uses AI to turn viral content into a prediction market
weeb.fun: A platform for launching and trading memecoins with friends
MyStonks: A decentralized digital asset trading platform
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