April 19, 2024

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Despite the ongoing market slump, the cryptocurrency sector has already raised $30.3 billion in capital, surpassing a full year of fundraising in 2021, according to a new report.

In an Aug. 2 report from crypto analytics firm Messari and Dove Metrics, data shows that the $30.3 billion raised in centralized finance (CeFi), decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and infrastructure was achieved through financing 1199 rounds in the 1st half of 2022.

The total amount of funds raised in the semester has already exceeded $30.2 billion raised in 1313 rounds in the whole of 2021.

More than a third of the total funds raised went to the CeFi sector, which had $10.2 billion in funding. The infrastructure and NFT sector also saw high amounts of investment, however, DeFi investment appears to have lagged with only $1.8 billion in funding in the period.

Most of the investment in CeFi was aimed at crypto exchanges, which raised $3.2 billion in total funding. Payment services, market makers and savings/bank account businesses were almost tied for second place.

The Web3 and NFT sector, which raised $8.6 billion in capital during the half, saw gaming-related NFTs take the lion’s share of investment, drawing more than four times more than any other NFT sector .

Some of the currently popular NFT-based crypto games include Axie Infinity, Aavegotchi, CryptoKitties, Galaxy Fight Club, and Gods Unchained.

Related: NFT volume hits annual low in June, but first-time buyers remain consistent

According to PWC’s latest hedge fund report In June, 38% of hedge funds now invest in digital assets, up from 21% in 2021.

PWC Global financial services leader John Garvey said crypto is increasingly being used by hedge fund managers to gain an edge over competitors:

“It’s the search for the alpha. Everyone is always looking for an angle on… so how do you go beyond benchmarks? You have to try something different and new and unorthodox.”