2022 is a historic year for crypto. In 2022, as military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine broke out, crypto assets captured the worldwide attention. In May, the UST meltdown led to the fall of multiple institutions, and before the market could fully absorb the consequences of the catastrophe, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Tornado Cash, which sparked heated debates. When investors thought that things couldn’t get any worse, FTX filed for bankruptcy, and its founder SBF was arrested (now released on bail).
Although the NFT boom attracted attention from non-crypto industries, the market wasn’t able to stand the continued pressure of deleveraging. As a result, the total market cap of cryptocurrency, which stood at $2 trillion at the beginning of the year, plummeted to $790 billion. Meanwhile, the exchange netflow of Bitcoin has been negative for a long time. Despite that, it should be noted that every crisis is also a great opportunity for players to reshuffle the market. Although some funds have left the market, many institutions have also invested in crypto at the same time.
Incomplete statistics show that as of December 16, 1,533 fundraising activities took place in the crypto market in 2022. In particular, world-renowned market maker Citadel Securities raised $1.15 billion, which is the single largest crypto financing of the year, on January 11, 2022. UST project Luna Foundation Guard ranks 2nd in this regard and raised $1 billion on February 23. That being said, what are the popular categories of crypto investment in 2022?
After screening the data, we notice that among the blockchain players that managed to raise funds, 276 focus on Web3, 170 work with NFTs, 141 are specialized in decentralized protocols and supporting services, 117 work on GameFi projects, 112 target blockchain technology applications, 93 are metaverse builders, 30 run wallets, 14 are engaged in crypto mining, 13 operate on Ethereum, and 5 are market makers.
Based on those figures, we can easily tell that Web3 takes up the lion’s share and scored 275 financing deals, 40 of which happened in August, and 35 in September. Though the number of companies that received investment in late 2022 went down, the figure is still slightly higher than that recorded at the beginning of the year.
Let’s next turn to the size of those financing deals. Excluding the 19 companies that did not disclose the specific funds raised, the remaining 256 Web3 companies raised approximately $2.3979 billion in 2022. In particular, Fenix Games, a Web3 game publisher invested by Phoenix Group and Dubai-based VC firm Cypher Capital, raised $150 million, ranking №1 among all 256 companies in terms of the size of financing in 2022.
NFT is the second most popular investment destination. In 2022, the sector witnessed 175 financings, most of which took place during May and July. Further, the number trended downward throughout the year, which indicates a drop in market popularity.
Let’s check out the funds they raised. Excluding the 13 companies that did not disclose the specific figures, the remaining 162 NFT companies raised about $2.526 billion in 2022. In particular, NFT marketplace OpenSea’s C round, involving Paradigm and Coatue, raised $300 million, ranking №1 in terms of fundraising size. In addition, six other NFT companies also raised more than $100 million, including Limit Break, the parent company of NFT project DigiDaigaku ($200 million), Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden ($130 million), NFT platform Genies ($150 million), NFT game developer Immutable ($200 million), NFT development platform Pixel Vault ($100 million), and NFT platform Autograph ($170 million).
These figures tell us that as the popularity of the NFT market gradually diminished, Web3 boomed. Despite that, the bearish market conditions led to a drop in the number of financings in late 2022. Meanwhile, as centralized institutions frequently suffered security breaches, investors shifted their focus to decentralized platforms.
During the big reshuffle, many institutional and individual investors chose to leave the crypto space. Yet there are market players who always put users first to improve the market environment and attract more users. One example is CoinEx, a world-renowned crypto exchange that just celebrated its fifth anniversary. Relying on its easy-to-use products and satisfying services, CoinEx has earned the approval of over 4 million users across more than 200 countries and regions worldwide.
In 2022, the exchange upgraded its brand slogan to “Making Crypto Trading Easier”. These simple words entail repeated product tests and countless service upgrades. Today, CoinEx has embarked on its sixth year in the crypto space, which will extend its zero-accident record to six consecutive years. Let us wish CoinEx and its users all the best in the new year.
Disclaimer: This article offers no investment advice, and all statistics mentioned herein are for reference only. The information provided herein may not be relied upon for investment decisions, for which you will be fully liable
