$131.1 Million Raised in Two Weeks, Crypto up 100% in 30 Days: Is Crypto Turning Bullish?
Although the crypto market started 2023 with DCG’s outstanding debts, BTC and ETH rebounded, and altcoins also recorded decent growth, as the Fed slowed the pace of rate rises. In the meantime, most investors are well aware that the black swan event centering on DCG did not just disappear, and the U.S. economy will soon witness a recession. It is evident that crypto is bound to be affected by those factors, so investors should remain prudent when making decisions.
Institutional investors are making new moves as well. According to incomplete statistics, crypto projects raised around $131 million through nearly 20 fundraising campaigns in the first two weeks of 2023. Today, let’s take a look at the companies and categories that raised massive funds from institutional investors these days.
To begin with, AirCarbon closed a $15 million Series B financing round led by TRIREC on January 4. Founded in Singapore, AirCarbon is a carbon exchange that leverages blockchain architecture to upgrade securitized coal credits to fungible and tradable securities. With AirCarbon, users can not only access the latest prices but also trade carbon through real-time settlement.
Second, there is The Easy Company, which raised $14.2 million in the seed round on January 10 from institutional investors, traditional SNS platforms, and Web3 angel investors. While disclosing the seed round information, the company also launched a beta version of Easy, a crypto wallet with social features.
Finally, CyberX, a crypto market maker, received a $15 million strategic investment from Foresight Ventures on January 13.
Apart from them, companies such as Web3 entertainment developer Sortium, DeFi protocol Qusar, and multi-signature wallet MSafe have also raised funds on different scales. Overall, in the first two weeks of 2023, capital seems to focus on crypto market makers, wallets, and blockchain applications.
Let’s now turn from institutions to retail investors. As the market has rebounded for the time being, Bitcoin’s exchange netflow has turned positive. The figure shows, on the one hand, that the market reshuffle has basically ended, investors who stayed are more “loyal” to crypto, and few focus on speculation; on the other hand, as Bitcoin’s exchange netflow remained negative on most days during the previous month, the investor confidence in Bitcoin has not been fully restored, and the market is not yet on a clear rise.
Bitcoin active addresses also surged on January 10. Generally speaking, the figure continued to edge upward. Although a similar surge also took place before the 2020 crypto bull, the macro conditions differed, so blind optimism should be avoided.
It is noteworthy that in addition to mainstream coins, the DeFi market is also recovering, especially Lido. In January, liquid staking platform Lido surpassed MakerDAO as the №1 DeFi protocol by TVL, and its token LDO soared by 108.42% within 30 days. Meanwhile, related tokens including FXS, RPL, ANKR, FIS, and PSTAKE have also recorded different degrees of price growth.
In the crypto market, mainstream assets, as well as altcoins in some sectors, are rising, which resembles the sign of a bull. Yet, many institutional investors and banks are not confident in the prospects of the world economy. Many companies have started massive layoffs, though the economic recession of the U.S. does not look so bad on paper.
Still, we need to find a way out of the darkness. The market reshuffle in the bear market has come to an end, and the rise of DeFi might motivate high leverage in the next bull. In light of that, investors could start planning ahead and control the investment risks by, for instance, building crypto portfolios consisting of both mainstream coins and altcoins.
Of course, to execute an investment strategy, one must first identify a secure, reliable, and convenient crypto trading platform. Over the past few years, I’ve become a huge fan of CoinEx because of its pleasing designs, easy-to-use products, and strong backing (the exchange is affiliated to ViaBTC Group).
In April 2022, CoinEx redefined its slogan to “Making Crypto Trading Easier”, aiming to break free from the shackles of traditional finance, make the crypto market more accessible, and work as a major gateway for global users to the crypto world. To date, the exchange has been recognized by more than 4 million users in over 200 countries and regions around the world, and I’m confident that CoinEx’s time will soon come.
Disclaimer: No investment advice is provided in this article, and all data mentioned herein are for reference only. You should not rely on the information provided herein to make any investment decision, and you will be fully liable for your own investment decisions.
