December 17, 2024
Here’s your Weekly Wrap of all things crypto funding, ending December 14, 2024.
This week’s crypto funding landscape was marked by substantial investments across key blockchain sectors, reflecting strong investor confidence and sustained interest in emerging technologies. The total disclosed funding reached $907.75 million across 31 projects, with Mining, Layer 1, and AI emerging as the standout categories. These sectors collectively demonstrated blockchain’s expanding role in driving financial infrastructure, digital investments, and decentralized operations.
The Mining sector led the week, raising a significant $500 million, highlighting the increasing demand for digital infrastructure and energy-efficient Bitcoin mining. Riot Platforms, a major player in Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure, dominated the category with its $500 million raise, signaling continued investment in scaling blockchain ecosystems.
The Layer 1 category followed closely, securing $262.6 million in total funding. Avalanche, a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain platform, stood out with its $250 million raise, underscoring the growing interest in scalable blockchain solutions. Other projects, such as Waterfall Network, also received attention, reflecting confidence in Layer 1's continued development.
The AI sector saw a strong performance with $27 million raised across key projects focused on AI-powered blockchain solutions. Exabits led the way with $15 million for its AI Compute Tokenization platform, while Hyperbolic secured $12 million, emphasizing blockchain’s increasing integration with artificial intelligence for improved performance and scalability.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the standout sectors and their significant projects.
Category | Organization Name | Project Description | Money Raised this Round |
AI |
|
| 27,000,000 |
Exabits | AI Compute Tokenization | 15,000,000 | |
Hyperbolic | Building a Verifiable High-Performance AI | 12,000,000 | |
Spectral | Onchain Agent Economy | UNDISCLOSED | |
Bitcoin |
|
| 22,000,000 |
Lava | Bitcoin Lending Platform | 10,000,000 | |
Relai | Self-custodial bitcoin-only app | 12,000,000 | |
DeFi |
|
| 8,900,000 |
BounceBit | Firm offering CeDeFi Products | UNDISCLOSED | |
Neptune | Building $USDN | 3,900,000 | |
Superform | Offering Intelligent Onchain High-Yield Products | 3,000,000 | |
Yei Finance | Money Market on Sei | 2,000,000 | |
DePin |
|
| 4,500,000 |
Soarchain | DePIN for AI and modularity | 4,500,000 | |
Fintech |
|
| 25,000,000 |
Klickl | MENA Regulated Custody and Payment Platform | 25,000,000 | |
Gambling |
|
| 4,250,000 |
Trading Card Games and Fantasy Betting on Blast | 4,250,000 | ||
Infrastructure |
|
| 9,000,000 |
Commonware | Rust-based Blockchain Primitives | 9,000,000 | |
Perena | Decentralized Stablecoin Infrastructure | UNDISCLOSED | |
ProvLabs | Blockchain infrastructure technology solutions company | UNDISCLOSED | |
SettleMint | Blockchain Transformation company | UNDISCLOSED | |
Layer 1 |
|
| 262,600,000 |
Avalanche | High-performance L1 blockchain platform | 250,000,000 | |
Mandala Chain | L1 Retail, Government, & Enterprise in Emerging Markets | 1,000,000 | |
Waterfall Network | EVM-Compatible Layer-1 Network | 11,600,000 | |
Layer 2 |
|
| 13,400,000 |
MegaETH | First real-time L2 blockchain | 10,000,000 | |
Spicenet | Hyper-fast trading L2 (Layer 2) solution | 3,400,000 | |
Mining |
|
| 500,000,000 |
Prosper | Decentralized protocol democratizing access to Bitcoin mining | UNDISCLOSED | |
Riot Platforms | Bitcoin Mining and Digital Infrastructure Company | 500,000,000 | |
Payments |
|
| 15,000,000 |
Kast | Stablecoin Payments App | 10,000,000 | |
Sphere | Payments infrastructure firm | 5,000,000 | |
RWA |
|
| 9,000,000 |
AgriDex | RWA Marketplace on Solana | 9,000,000 | |
Security |
|
| 5,400,000 |
CAT Labs | Firm creating tools to fight tech-enabled crime | 5,400,000 | |
Social |
|
| UNDISCLOSED |
METYA | AI-driven web3 Dating Platform | UNDISCLOSED | |
Trading |
|
| 1,700,000 |
Uranium Digital | Institutional-grade spot uranium trading platform | 1,700,000 | |
Web3 |
|
| UNDISCLOSED |
Dtravel | Offering P2P vacation rentals in Crypto | UNDISCLOSED | |
X-to-Earn |
|
| UNDISCLOSED |
Bounty Bay | Web3-based marketing platform | UNDISCLOSED | |
Grand Total |
|
| 907,750,000 |
Mining
The Mining sector led the week, raising a significant $500 million, highlighting the increasing demand for digital infrastructure and energy-efficient Bitcoin mining. Riot Platforms, a major player in Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure, dominated the category with its $500 million raise. This funding underscores the growing importance of energy-efficient mining solutions and the scaling of infrastructure to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving blockchain ecosystem. Riot Platforms' raise will likely contribute to further developments in digital infrastructure, bolstering Bitcoin’s position as the primary digital asset.
Riot Platforms: A Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company. Raised $500 million to scale its operations and infrastructure, positioning itself as a leader in energy-efficient Bitcoin mining.
Layer 1
The Layer 1 category saw robust funding, securing $262.6 million in total. Avalanche, a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain platform, was the standout, raising $250 million. Avalanche’s funding reflects continued interest in scalable and efficient blockchain networks that can handle high transaction volumes and offer interoperability. The significant investment indicates a growing preference for Layer 1 solutions that provide strong foundational support for decentralized applications (dApps). Additionally, Waterfall Network, which raised $11.6 million, is a notable Layer 1 project focusing on EVM compatibility, suggesting increased attention on ecosystems that support Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based applications.
Avalanche: A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain platform. Raised $250 million to enhance scalability, interoperability, and decentralization of applications.
Mandala Chain: A Layer 1 blockchain focused on retail, government, and enterprise solutions in emerging markets. Raised $1 million.
Waterfall Network: An EVM-compatible Layer-1 network aimed at scaling decentralized applications. Raised $11.6 million.
AI
The AI sector saw a strong performance with $27 million raised across key projects focused on AI-powered blockchain solutions. Exabits, leading the category with $15 million, focuses on AI Compute Tokenization, aiming to revolutionize GPU power usage. This innovation highlights the growing integration of AI and blockchain to improve computational efficiency. Hyperbolic secured $12 million for its high-performance AI solutions, which aim to make AI systems more verifiable and scalable. The strong interest in these projects reflects the increasing convergence of AI with blockchain, driven by the need for transparent, efficient, and scalable AI models.
Exabits: AI Compute Tokenization of GPU power. Raised $15 million to enable more efficient and decentralized usage of GPU resources for AI computations.
Hyperbolic: A firm building a verifiable high-performance AI platform. Raised $12 million to advance scalable, verifiable AI models.
Spectral: A platform focused on the on-chain agent economy. Raised an undisclosed amount.
Conclusion
This week’s funding activity highlights the growing diversity of blockchain investments across multiple sectors. The Mining sector led with a substantial $500 million raise, driven by Riot Platforms, reflecting the strong demand for scalable and energy-efficient mining solutions. Meanwhile, Layer 1 projects raised a total of $262.6 million, with Avalanche securing $250 million, while AI projects raised $27 million, with Exabits securing $15 million. These developments underscore continued investor confidence in scalable blockchain technologies and AI integration. With continued innovation across various categories, the crypto and blockchain landscape remains vibrant and poised for further growth.
A central focus of investor activity in the cryptocurrency space is the evaluation of new crypto projects to invest in, particularly those with huge potential. This blog provides insight into what new ventures are benefiting from venture capital support (VC funding in crypto). These new crypto projects, funded by professional investors, can dictate the next narrative in crypto and the next big crypto movers.
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