Financial institutions' growing crypto interest is attributed to the U.S. launch of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs late last year, per PitchBook's Q4 report.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, venture funding for crypto-related companies totaled $1.9 billion, a 2.5% increase from the prior quarter, according to a report by PitchBook. It marks the first time that venture capital (VC) investments in crypto startups have risen since the March quarter of 2022.
PitchBook highlighted that major crypto ventures securing funding primarily center around financial and technological solutions. These include tokenizing real-world assets, like real estate and stocks on the blockchain, and building decentralized computing infrastructure.
Some prominent fundraises in the quarter involved crypto exchanges Swan Bitcoin and Blockchain.com, securing $165 million and $100 million, respectively.
