Enterprise funding for blockchain companies has surged in Q3 of 2021. Data from Blockdata shows funding hit an all-time high of $6.5B in 339 rounds in Q3. These are only part of the disclosed deals, meaning it could be more.
Enterprise funding in 2021 has been on a sustained run with this being the third consecutive all-time high funding record. Crypto companies collected $3.83B in Q1 and $5.131B in Q2.
The figures of money raised in Q3 are notably almost double the total amount collected in the whole of 2020, $3.8B.
Largest rounds in Q3 2021
With companies raising so much money, here are some of the biggest gainers from Q3.
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FTX – $900 million
FTX raised the biggest ever funding round by a crypto company when it raised a massive $900 million round in July. The successful round elevates the company’s valuation to $18 billion.
The round attracted some big-name investors like Coinbase Ventures, Sequoia funds and Paradigm.
FTX had planned to use the raised money for various mergers and acquisitions. Already, FTX.US has acquired LedgerX, a Commodity Futures Investing Commission (CFTC) regulated crypto derivatives trading platform.
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Sorare – $680 million
With the growing non-fungible token (NFT) market, it is only logical that Sorare, a fantasy soccer game based on Ethereum NFTs, also raised high funding. The platform received $680 million in 6 rounds ending in September.
Following the successful round, Sorare has increased its gaming base and has partnered with La Liga, a Spanish football league. La Liga houses a large number of licensed soccer clubs like Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia.
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Genesis Digital Assets – $431 million
Genesis Digital Assets, one of the world’s leading crypto mining service companies, raised $431 million in funding in Q3.
The company is looking to build the world’s largest and most profitable Bitcoin mining firm in the world by 2025. The funding will come a long way in helping it achieve its mission.
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Fireblocks – $310 million
Fireblocks, an all-in-one platform that helps customers build digital asset businesses, raised $310 million in July. The company provides various services like settlement infrastructure and electronic asset custody for various crypto-related businesses.
The firm had also raised $133 million in March. However, even with such success, they are not looking to go public just yet. They will first look to streamline the complexities around security, operational hazard and compliance.
Active investors in Q3
Among all the investors in the 2021 Q3 period, Coinbase Ventures was the leading investor, participating in 18 rounds of fundings.
What’s notable about Coinbase Ventures is that it invested in both FTX and CoinCDX, both crypto exchanges operating similar to Coinbase. However, this could mean that Coinbase views the exchanges as serving a different type of customer, such as FTX’s focus on traders. By investing in these other exchanges, they are hedging against the competition.
The other active investors in Q3 were Animoca Models, Polychain Capital, Divergence Ventures and Y Combinator.
With crypto company funding reaching all time highs each quarter, it reiterates the large inflows that are moving into the space and the lucrative future investors see for the crypto industry.