H1 crypto VC seed funding drop signals both downturn and maturity, says report

A decline in venture capital participation in crypto seed rounds during the first half of the year indicates both a market downturn and increasing maturity, according to a report from Tiger Research, an Asian Web3 research and consulting firm. The report suggests this trend could be interpreted as a shift in VC preferences and a decrease in the number of early-stage projects. In the first half of the year, crypto VC investment totaled approximately $13.3 billion across 435 deals. While the investment amount itself is not insignificant, the number of deals plummeted by 78% compared to the previous year. The report added that unlike in the past, retail investors no longer react sensitively to news of VC investments, attributing this to structural changes in market capital. It also noted that sectors such as gaming, NFTs, and social saw sluggish VC investment in the first half, while DeFi, payments, stablecoins, centralized exchanges, and prediction markets showed robust performance.