Abstract
According to RootData, the global crypto market cap saw significant growth in 2024, with total funding reaching $10.112 billion, an 8.3% increase from 2023. The year recorded 1,548 funding events and 102 M&A deals, setting a historical high. The infrastructure category maintained its leading position with $3.995 billion in funding.
Early-stage investments (below $5 million) dominated in 2024, completing 627 projects — a 20.6% increase from 2023, with project valuations gradually returning to rational levels. The top 10 deals totaled $3.028 billion, with payments giant Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge marking the largest single transaction. OKX Ventures emerged as 2024’s most active investor with 72 investments, while Polychain led 30 projects, focusing on infrastructure and DeFi categories.
The Ethereum ecosystem secured 282 funding rounds totaling $1.78 billion. Base and Solana ecosystems led other chains in project growth, achieving remarkable growth rates of 164.8% and 69.6% respectively. Mature Layer 2 ecosystem dApps maintained around 20% growth, showing signs of self-sustainability beyond VC dependence.
Infrastructure, Layer 1/2, and DeFi remained the blockchain industry’s hottest categories, while AI and DeSci tags gained rapid traction. Token unlocks were typically accompanied by positive price movements, with OTC trading showing minimal impact on token prices.
The crypto market is expected to show diversified development in H1 2025, with DePIN, RWA, AI, and consumer-grade infrastructure as key focus areas. High-performance chains like Solana and Move-based systems may show notable performance. Meanwhile, the ETH ecosystem is expected to develop steadily under regulatory compliance, driving the industry toward standardization and deeper integration with the real economy.
2024 Total Funding: $10.112 billion, up 8.3% from 2023; Infrastructure category secured $3.995 billion in funding
According to RootData, crypto market funding in 2024 showed a strong start but slower finish, totaling $10.112 billion, an 8.3% increase from 2023. Q1 was the most active period, with March reaching a yearly high of $1.139 billion. The first half maintained monthly averages above $900 million, while the second half stabilized around $700 million, concluding December at $742 million. In terms of funding events, there were 1,548 occurrences throughout the year, averaging 129 per month. March peaked at 191 events, followed by a gradual decline, with the second half averaging around 100 events monthly. Notably, M&A activities reached 102 deals, up 34.2% from 76 in 2023, setting a historical record. The year’s average funding amount was $9.135 million, with a median of $4.1 million.
RootData’s analysis shows distinct performance across different categories in 2024. The infrastructure maintained its leadership with $3.995 billion in funding, an 18.22% increase from 2023, claiming the largest share of annual funding. Developer platforms and stablecoin initiatives saw significant growth in Q3. DeFi showed exceptional performance, securing $1.493 billion, a remarkable 96.57% increase from 2023, ranking second in funding scale, with focus on modular solutions, parallel EVM, DePin, and RWA initiatives.
The gaming category secured $814 million, up 21.54% year-over-year. Other categories attracted $1.335 billion, showing a slight 6.72% decrease from 2023, but encompassed emerging areas including Meme projects, AI-Crypto integration, and DePin. FHE, re-staking, and privacy computing were active early in the year, while security solutions and creator economy gained attention in Q3/Q4. Notably, CeFi funding decreased from $991 million in 2023 to $679 million, a 31.48% decline, though it saw a brief revival mid-year influenced by projects like Farcaster.
Early-stage investments dominated 2024, up 20.6% from 2023; Top 10 deals totaled $3.028 billion, accounting for 29.94% of annual funding
According to 2024 funding distribution data, early-stage investments (below $5 million) continued to dominate, with 627 funding events completed throughout the year, showing a 20.6% increase from 520 projects in 2023. This reflects accelerated project development amid market recovery. Mid-stage investments ($5–10 million) demonstrated steady growth, completing 244 projects in 2024, up 24.5% from 196 projects in 2023. Late-stage and large-scale investments (above $10 million) saw a slight increase to 188 projects from 175 in 2023. This shift primarily resulted from increased risk aversion following the 2022–2023 bear market, coupled with many funds approaching their exit periods after 2021 fundraising, leading to higher demand for mid to late-stage project investments.
The top 10 Crypto funding deals in 2024 totaled $3.028 billion, representing 29.94% of the year’s total funding. The largest single transaction was payments giant Stripe’s $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge, accounting for 10.88% of annual funding. This was followed by Bitcoin mining company Iris Energy’s $413 million funding round and Avalanche’s $250 million OTC financing. Multiple M&A transactions reflected industry consolidation trends. These large-scale deals primarily focused on infrastructure, mining, and L1 categories, demonstrating institutional investors’ continued confidence in industry infrastructure development.
12 investment institutions made over 10 investments in Q3, with Robot Ventures being the most active, making 22 investments
According to RootData, among the top 10 most active investment institutions in 2024, OKX Ventures led the rankings with 72 investments, primarily focusing on infrastructure and DeFi categories. Notably, OKX Ventures was particularly active in the gaming category with 34 investments. MH Ventures and Cogitent Ventures followed closely, each making 56 investments. Overall, the infrastructure category remained the most favored, with all TOP 10 institutions making over 38 investments in this space, while DAO and information service tools categories received relatively less attention.
In terms of lead investment rankings, Polychain topped the list with 30 lead investments, clearly concentrating on infrastructure and DeFi categories. Hack VC ranked second with 24 lead investments, of which 17 were directed towards infrastructure projects. Animoca Brands demonstrated its specialized focus in gaming with 8 out of its 17 lead investments in gaming projects. Generally, categories such as NFT and DAO showed minimal activity at the lead investment level, with most institutions recording zero lead investments in these areas.
12 investment institutions made over 10 investments in Q3, with Robot Ventures being the most active, making 22 investments
According to incomplete data, Ethereum maintains its leadership position with over 2,500 total applications, remaining the most recognized infrastructure by investors and developers. The ecosystem completed 282 funding rounds throughout the year, totaling $1.78 billion.
Base and Solana ecosystems led other public chains in project growth, achieving remarkable growth rates of 164.8% and 69.6% respectively. Beyond their fast performance and low gas fees, blockchain-AI integration experiments were key drivers of chain prosperity, with projects like Virtuals Protocol and Pump.Fun attracting significant capital inflow.
In terms of funding capability, while mature Layer 2 platforms (such as Optimism and Arbitrum) showed subdued funding data, their ecosystem dApps maintained around 20% growth rate, demonstrating their ability to thrive independently of VC funding. A notable example is Hyperliquid, which, without external funding, achieved a remarkable 10x increase in FDV to $30 billion within a month after TGE.
Infrastructure, Layer 1/2, and DeFi Remain Blockchain’s Hottest Categories, with AI and DeSci Tags Gaining Rapid Traction
Based on RootData’s popular tags (with over 5,000 clicks) in the past year, infrastructure, Layer 1/2, and DeFi remained the blockchain industry’s hottest categories. AI and DeSci tags showed rapidly increasing click rates, with representative projects like Virtuals Protocol and Bio Protocol consistently ranking at the top of RootData’s trending list. Some high-click tags maintained popularity for only 1–3 months, such as DePIN, Tap to Earn, and Bitcoin ecosystem projects. Beyond VC token selling pressure, the lack of sustainable growth mechanisms in these projects may be one factor limiting their ability to attract continuous capital inflow.
Large Token Unlocks Usually Accompanied by Positive Price Movements; OTC Trading Shows Minimal Impact on Token Prices
In 2024, VC tokens became a term of caution as the crypto market absorbed their liquidity exits. Projects like Optimism, Sui, Aptos, Ethena, dydx, and Cardano experienced monthly token unlocks exceeding 30 million tokens. Nine major unlock events (each valued over $100 million) occurred during the year, involving INJ, MEME, PYTH, AVAX, SUI, W, JTO, APT, and TIA.
Analysis of token prices before and after unlocks reveals that projects could significantly boost token prices before major unlocks through strategic announcements of positive developments and marketing initiatives. Furthermore, OTC (over-the-counter) trading emerged as the exit method with minimal impact on token prices, effectively mitigating the risk of significant token price declines.
BTC, AI, and High-Performance Chains Dominate Popular TGE Projects in H1 2025
H1 2025 Popular TGE Funding Overview (*indicates completed TGE)
Projects with funding exceeding $100 million include Monad, Farcaster, *EigenLayer, *Magic Eden, and Berachain. Projects with funding between $50–100 million include Babylon, *Scroll, Morpho, and Eclipse. Projects with funding between $10–50 million include Sahara, Nillion, *Movement, *Puffer, Initia, Walletconnect, *Usual, Lombard, Solayer, *Bio, and Sophon. Projects with funding below $10 million include Roam, Symbiotic, *deBridge, and *Grass.
Notable institutional investors include CEX institutions such as Coinbase, Okex, and Binance, as well as leading firms like Polychain, Hack VC, IOSG, Robot Ventures, Paradigm, Variant, a16z, and Delphi Digital.
H1 2025 Token Unlocks and Altcoin Performance Influenced by Tax Season and Macro Liquidity
Macro and TGE Price Performance
Monad secured the highest funding and support from 8 leading institutions, expected to list on Coinbase, Binance, and Okex. Eigen achieved a 43x multiple after its TGE, maintaining excellent token price performance. Q4 Binance listings $GRASS, $ME, and $MOVE showed outstanding performance with current listing multiples reaching 100–50x, while $USUAL maintains a 30x multiple from its base price and final round. Layer 1 projects with 4–5 leading institutional backers showed mixed results — high-performance narratives like Movement excelled while zero-knowledge proof narrative $SCR showed underwhelming base multiple performance. Currently trending narratives include high-performance public chains Eclipse/Monad/MegaETH, Ponzi liquidity narrative Berachain, chain abstraction Initia, AI and privacy focused Sahara and Nillion, and BTC narrative projects Babylon and Lombard.
Looking at Q4 popular TGEs, the market showed favorable exit performance during blue-chip price increases with liquidity unlocks on leading CEXs. Macro-wise, Trump’s January inauguration and institutional liquidity returning post-Christmas suggest TGE tokens released before the March-April tax season liquidity withdrawal could continue Q4 2024’s prosperity. Trump and WLF’s endorsement of Ethereum + on-chain DeFi narratives and cash have led to strong token unlock performance for DeFi and USD-pegged RWA concepts (like $USUAL). The narrative potential for unlaunched projects in these categories remains promising for 2025.
H1 2025 OTC Market Led by Solana’s High-Performance Move Ecosystem Narrative
OTC Market Overview
OTC market quote amounts showed overall growth with the following characteristics: Total transaction count reached 262, down 3% quarter-over-quarter; total order quote amount reached $1.2B, up 29% quarter-over-quarter; average transaction size was $5.2M, up 34% quarter-over-quarter; buyers accounted for 41.98%, sellers 58.02%. Market activity increased overall due to heightened crypto market enthusiasm, with recent TGE projects like $NAM and high-performing $OM, along with institutions holding well-performing $SOL over the past year showing tendency for short-term profit-taking. Solana was influenced by multiple factors including, but not limited to, FTX unlocks and Galaxy Digital’s proxy liquidation of staked token unlocks. FTX accounts under $50,000 are expected to receive redemptions in Q1, potentially reinvesting into the altcoin market, with total unlock amounts reportedly reaching $10B — dubbed by the market as crypto’s “quantitative easing” liquidity injection plan ahead of the Federal Reserve.
Since Ethereum’s ETF approval in 2024, Solana has been considered a leading contender for the next ETF approval, causing significant price speculation. The Solana Foundation actively supports liquidity staking solutions like Solayer and RateX to reduce selling pressure. Phantom wallet, previously raising over $100M with a final valuation of $1.2B, has gained significant institutional buyer interest in the OTC market, with increased likelihood of a token launch in 2025. $JTO, as Solana’s largest infrastructure and essential component of AI+meme coin trading rotation, has also attracted strong institutional interest in the OTC market. $SUI and the SUI ecosystem, utilizing the Move language (a simplified Rust version) adapted from Facebook’s Diem chain, saw its price break $4.4 in late 2024, up 125% since pre-Trump election. $SUI’s OTC activity demonstrated institutional confidence in SUI’s future prospects, as its faster and cheaper transaction characteristics position it as a potential third-generation chain killer (following Solana as the second-generation chain killer and ETH as the first-generation BTC killer).
AI Leads Traditional Categories while Real Asset Three Giants Rise, Innovative Categories Break 100% Annual Growth
Growth Rate of Investment Frequency by Category — Shifting Trends
Looking at crypto project investment frequencies in 2024, investor and institutional investment preferences showed the following changes:
>100 Investments: Artificial Intelligence achieved 128% growth, leading Infrastructure/DeFi/Gaming
>50 Investments: DePin/RWA/LSD all achieved 100+% growth rates, with notable growth also seen in DEX/Lending/Payments/Layer1/Derivatives
<50 Investments: AI Agents/Re-staking/MEME/Cloud Computing/Launch Platforms/IoT/Stablecoin Issuance/DA/Prediction Games/DEX Aggregators/Privacy/Bitcoin Ecosystem (BRC20/Runes/Ordinals) all exceeded 100% growth rates
Infra and AI Dominate H1, DePIN and RWA Rise as Highlights, Stablecoins and Privacy Break Through in H2, Traditional Categories Show Significant Divergence
Monthly Changes in Investment Frequency by Category — Shifting Trends
Analyzing the temporal distribution of crypto project investments in 2024, investor and institutional investment preferences showed the following changes:
>100 Investments: DeFi/Infrastructure/AI showed steady growth, while Gaming displayed a gradual declining trend
>50 Investments: DePIN/RWA/Layer1 demonstrated increasingly aggressive growth trends, while NFT/DeFi-related investments showed declining frequency after May, possibly due to market conditions
<50 Investments: Stablecoins/AI Agents/Privacy/MEME showed growth trends in H2 2024, while BTC-related/Data/Tools-related investments declined after H1 2024
AI Dominates Large Investments, RWA and DePIN Rise as New Favorites, NFT and Bitcoin Ecosystem Recede
Investment Frequency Share by Category — Shifting Trends
Analyzing the share distribution of crypto project investments in 2024, investor and institutional investment preferences showed the following changes:
>100 Investments: AI sector showed significant growth in proportion
>50 Investments: RWA/LSD/Layer1/DePIN/Payments/Derivatives showed notable growth, while NFT/Tools/DEX/Design/CeFi shares declined significantly
<50 Investments: Notable growth in AI Agents/Stablecoin Protocols/Privacy/Perpetual Contracts/Wallets/Modularity/Re-staking/Gaming Solutions/ZK/CEX/Gambling/Layer3/Yield Aggregation/Cross-chain Bridges/API/DA/Intent, while Marketing Solutions/Ordinals/Bitcoin Ecosystem/Creator Economy/Mining/Asset Management/NFT/BRC20/DID-related showed significant decline
Stablecoins Lead with 433% Growth, AI and Infra Show Significant Capital Attraction, FHE, Parallelization, RWA, LSD, and Oracles Flourish
Investment Amount Growth Rate by Category — Institutional Capital Trends
Analyzing crypto funding amounts in 2024, investor and institutional capital flows showed the following trends:
>$1B Categories: Stablecoin Issuance/Developer Platforms/Layer1/DeFi/Infrastructure all achieved 100+% YoY growth, with Stablecoins and Developer Platforms leading at 433% and 180% respectively
$0.25–1B Categories: Modularity/Parallel EVM/DePIN/RWA/LSD/Mining all achieved 130+% growth, with AI/Mining/Gaming each securing over $0.8B in funding. DA/Bitcoin Ecosystem/Derivatives/L2/ZK maintained notable 100% growth rates
<$250M Categories: FHE/AI Agents/Oracles achieved 300+% growth, while Social/Environmental/Card Games/Gambling/Layer3/IoT/Stablecoin Protocols/Perpetual Contracts/Launch Platforms exceeded 150+% growth
Infra Shows Steady Growth, Developer Platforms Break Through in Q3, Social Gaming Rises in Q2, Security and Creation Gain Momentum in Q4
Monthly Changes in Investment Amount by Category — Institutional Capital Trends
Analyzing the temporal distribution of crypto funding in 2024, investor and institutional capital flows showed the following trends:
>$1B Categories: Developer Platforms and Stablecoin Issuance saw significant growth in Q3, while Infrastructure maintained steady growth throughout the year
$0.25–1B Categories: Modularity/Parallel EVM/DePIN/RWA/Payments/AI showed stable growth throughout the year, with Digital Nation Cities experiencing significant growth in Q2
<$250M Categories: FHE/Re-staking/Privacy/Card Games/Studios/MEV/Cross-chain all saw significant growth in early year, Layer3/Social Graphs/CeFi/Gambling Games gained significant growth mid-year influenced by elections and Farcaster, while Security Solutions/Creator Economy/Custody/Interoperability received increased institutional attention in Q3/Q4
Developer Platforms and Stablecoins Lead Strongly in Q3, Cloud Computing and FHE Rise, NFT and Metaverse Show Significant Decline
Investment Amount Share Distribution by Category — Institutional Capital Trends
Analyzing the share distribution of crypto funding in 2024, investor and institutional investment preferences showed the following changes:
>$1B : Developer Platforms/Stablecoin Issuers/Layer1/DeFi showed significant share increases after Q3
$0.25–1B : DA/Digital Nations showed significant share increases after Q3; Modularity/Parallel EVM/DePIN/RWA/LSD/Mining/Lending saw rising shares throughout the year; Wallets/Payments/CEX/Gaming/Social/ZK experienced share declines
<$250M : Cloud Computing/FHE/AI Agents/Social Graphs/Layer3/Oracles/Prediction Markets/Environmental Solutions/Card Games/Gambling Games/Launch Platforms/Chain Abstraction/NFT Lending/CeFi/DID showed significant share increases from Q1; Re-staking/Gaming Solutions/Privacy/DEX/Staking Services maintained steady share increases throughout the year; NFT/Metaverse/Tools/Custody/Cross-chain/Interoperability/Music/CeFi Asset Management showed significant share declines
Bitcoin Eco Hits New High with 162% Growth, Cosmos/Solana Follow at 144%/93%, TON, SUI, DOT Rise with 100%+ Growth, Ethereum Maintains Leadership with $1.1B
Primary Market Ecosystem Funding Growth Rate — Ecosystem Potential
Analyzing primary market ecosystem funding in 2024, the ecosystems attracting investor and institutional capital were primarily:
>$200M Total Funding: BTC/Cosmos/Solana approached 100% growth, with BTC leading at 162%, Cosmos at 144%, and Base at 67% growth — nearly surpassing BNB/OP/Polygon/AVAX in total amount. Ethereum maintained steady growth with $1.13B total funding and 61% increase
$30–200M Total Funding: TON achieved the highest growth at 316% with $66M, followed closely by SUI at 175% ($37M) and DOT at 158% ($50M). Scroll led in total funding amount with $112M. Other projects securing over $50M in funding included Mantra/Linear/Zksync/Blast/Sonic
ETH Ecosystem Declines After Q1 Lead, Solana and Base Show Steady Capital Attraction, TON and SUI Lead New Forces
Monthly Changes in Ecosystem Funding — Ecosystem Potential
Analyzing primary market ecosystem funding in 2024, the ecosystems attracting investor and institutional capital were primarily:
>$200M Total Funding: BTC/ETH/Avalanche/Polygon/Optimism showed strong growth in Q1 followed by significant decline throughout the year, while Solana/Base/Arbitrum/BNB/Cosmos maintained stable funding throughout the year
$30–200M Total Funding: TON/SUI/Babylon/Scroll/Berachain/Sonic showed steady average growth throughout the year
BTC and Cosmos Show Steady Expansion, Solana and Base Emerge Strongly, TON and SUI Lead New Forces, AVAX Ecosystem Yields Ground
Ecosystem Funding Share Distribution — Ecosystem Potential
Analyzing primary market ecosystem funding share in 2024, the ecosystems attracting investor and institutional capital were primarily:
>$200M Total Funding: BTC/Cosmos/Solana/Base showed significant growth throughout the year, while Avax/Polygon showed notable decline
$30–200M Total Funding: TON/SUI/DOT/Starknet/Babylon/Aurora showed significant growth throughout the year, while other ecosystems maintained relatively stable shares
From Speculation to Value: ETH Leads DeFi Standardization, Regulatory Integration Drives Industry Upgrade, Performance Innovation Leads Future, Deep Integration with Real Economy
The crypto market investment landscape underwent significant changes in 2024. While total funding in AI, infrastructure, and DeFi sectors reached $9.346 billion (roughly on par with $9.615 billion in 2023), there was a notable shift in investment focus. Bitcoin-related project funding increased by 162% year-over-year, primarily driven by Bitcoin’s BRC20/BTC script renaissance and ETF momentum. The AI sector showed remarkable performance in Q4 with a surge in funding frequency, highlighting the accelerating convergence of AI and crypto technologies. Meanwhile, RWA, Layer 1, and DePin emerged as new investment hotspots, while traditional NFT and GameFi sectors gradually cooled down. In terms of ecosystem development, Ethereum maintained its dominance with $1.13 billion in funding and a 61% growth rate, while Cosmos and Solana ecosystems achieved significant growth of 144% and nearly 100%, respectively. Emerging ecosystems showed even more impressive performance, with TON growing by 316% and SUI by 175%.
Notably, while traditional sectors (infrastructure, DeFi) maintained stability in 2024, market focus accelerated its shift. The Bitcoin ecosystem underwent structural transformation; despite technical progress in Layer 2 scaling solutions, challenges remained in user adoption and liquidity fragmentation. The BRC20 ecosystem development also faced network congestion and infrastructure support issues. However, traditional investors gradually participated in BTC investment through ETF products. Meanwhile, the success of AI meme coins in 2024 attracted institutional investors’ attention, driving substantial capital toward AI infrastructure development.
Looking ahead to 2025, with significant capital injection, the AI sector is expected to move from concept to implementation, focusing on developing decentralized training, inference, data governance, privacy protection, and AI autonomous trading infrastructure. Under clearer U.S. regulatory frameworks, particularly with SEC simplifying token registration processes and potential SAB 121 abolition, the RWA market is poised for robust growth, with explosive growth expected in U.S. Treasury tokenization, institutional-grade bonds, and real estate tokenization. High-performance public chain sectors (such as Solana, SUI, and emerging Monad, Eclipse) will be validated in terms of transaction performance, scalability, and complex application scenarios. DePin and IoT infrastructure will begin large-scale implementation, integrating with the real economy and cash flow income, combining decentralized computing and distributed storage technologies to form consumer-oriented product formats. Additionally, DeFi 2.0 will evolve under clear regulatory frameworks, with institutional-grade DeFi liquidity provision becoming the new standard.
The 2025 market will transition from pursuing short-term trends to building long-term value, with project valuations increasingly based on actual adoption rates and cash flow performance rather than speculative expectations. This transformation process will reshape the industry’s business and development logic, marking a crucial turning point in the crypto industry’s maturation.
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