RootData April Data Summary: The number of fundraising in the primary market hits a new low, with mining and listed company financing becoming mainstream
In April, the total financing amount in the primary cryptocurrency market was $685 million, a year-on-year decrease of 37.7%, with the number of financing projects at 65, continuing to set a new low since February 2021.Author: RootData
I. Financing Data
In April, the total financing amount in the crypto primary market was $685 million, a year-on-year decrease of 37.7%, with the number of financing projects at 65, continuing to create a new low since February 2021. Although in March, due to Binance's $2 billion financing, the overall market financing amount approached $3 billion, this still could not change the overall downturn of the market.
From the perspective of primary market financing, the largest financing ($153 million) came from the blockchain and artificial intelligence infrastructure Auradine, one of whose main businesses is the production of diversified Bitcoin mining, including air-cooled, immersion, and water-cooled mining machines. The second largest financings were Layerzero ($55 million), Blackbird ($50 million), and Nous Research ($50 million).
However, if the nature of financing is expanded to include all financing, including debt financing and post-IPO financing, the overall financing amount in April would exceed $1.5 billion. For example, Sol Strategies completed $500 million in post-IPO financing, Upexi completed $100 million in post-IPO financing, and Bitdeer completed $60 million in debt financing.
These financings were mainly initiated by listed companies in the form of convertible bonds, primarily used to purchase Bitcoin mining machines or directly invest in Bitcoin, with clearer exit paths or more stable cash flows, leading to an increasing amount of funds flowing into this field.
Based on this trend, many companies are also actively promoting IPO plans. In the past month or two, companies such as Circle, Galaxy Digital, Bithumb, Kraken, Antalpha, and Gemini have disclosed clear listing plans.
In terms of mergers and acquisitions, there were 7 M&A transactions in April, a month-on-month decrease of over 40%, among which Ripple acquired the crypto-friendly brokerage Hidden Road for $1.25 billion, setting a historical record for the value of crypto projects being acquired.
II. VC Dynamics
In April, the most active investors in the crypto primary market were [a16z](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Andreessen Horowitz?k=MjM3)、Coinbase Ventures、Hack VC, each with over 5 investments, while there were fewer than 30 VC funds with 2 or more investments, reflecting a general pessimism among crypto VCs towards the primary market, with many well-known funds no longer investing.
On April 19, Du Jun, co-founder of ABCDE, stated that the fund has officially stopped investing in new projects and suspended the fundraising plan for its second fund. The original team will continue to be responsible for post-investment support and exit arrangements for existing projects, ensuring that commitments to entrepreneurs and LPs can be seriously fulfilled. His personal work focus will also gradually shift from financial investments in the primary market to a strategy-led investment direction combined with deep incubation, focusing more on industrial synergy and long-term value creation.
Of course, several funds disclosed fundraising progress this month. According to a Bloomberg report, Galaxy Digital's Galaxy Ventures Fund I LP has exceeded its original fundraising goal of $150 million and is expected to complete its final close at $175 million to $180 million by the end of June. The fund focuses on early-stage startup projects, particularly in the payment and stablecoin sectors.
Re7 Capital announced the establishment of a $10 million SocialFi special fund aimed at investing in about 30 early-stage projects. The first round of funding has completed 60% subscription.
At the end of the month, ether.fi announced the launch of the crypto-native venture fund ether.fi Ventures, with a scale of $40 million, with David Hsu, a former investor of Breed VC, serving as a partner. Previously, ether.fi had invested in Resolv, Rise Chain, and Symbiotic.
At the beginning of April, Mantra also announced the launch of a $108 million ecosystem fund, planning to filter investment opportunities through its partner network and deploy funds globally to "high-potential blockchain projects." The fund's supporters include Laser Digital, Shorooq, Brevan Howard Digital, Valor Capital, Three Point Capital, and Amber Group. However, as its token OM's price collapsed in mid to late April, the fund's scale and future sustainability are in doubt.
On April 22, global blockchain payment service provider Astra Fintech announced the establishment of a $100 million fund to support the development of the Solana ecosystem in Asia. The fund will be based in South Korea and primarily invest in projects developing payment financial (PayFi) solutions, facilitating cooperation with developers, businesses, and regulators.
The overall downturn in crypto VC has also led to the exit of more VC investors. This month, RootData recorded the departure of senior executives from dozens of VC firms, including BlockTower Capital partner David Burke, Pantera Capital research partner Matthew Stephenson, Paradigm research partner samczsun, Polychain investor relations director Nicole Zahrah Civitello, Galaxy general partner Dan Zuller, and Dragonfly partner Ani Pai.
At the same time, VC firms such as ParaFi Capital, Systemic Ventures, Franklin Templeton, 1kx, and 1confirmation have recruited new executives to join.
III. Project Dynamics
In April, the top 10 projects searched on RootData were Huma Finance, Babylon, Initia, Sui, Monad, Gensyn, StakeStone, Hyperlane, Axiom, and Towns. Popular projects are mainly distributed in the PayFi, Layer1, and AI tracks.
At the same time, projects that launched their mainnet include Initia, [Immutable Ratings](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Immutable Ratings?k=MTczMDY= "Decentralized review platform"), Loopscale, subs.fun, [Hive Intelligence](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Hive Intelligence?k=MTU1NjE= "Infrastructure with AI agents"), Felix, [Glow Finance](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Glow Finance?k=MTczMDE= "Decentralized margin trading protocol"), and Haven1. Projects that launched their testnet include Soul and [R2 Protocol](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/R2 Protocol?k=MTYzNDY= "RWAFi platform").
Notable new projects added this month include:
[Ethereum R1](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Ethereum R1?k=MTc0MzY= "A new Rollup based on Ethereum's core values"): A new Rollup based on Ethereum's core values.
ZAMM: Decentralized trading protocol.
Antifun: A token launch platform aimed at eliminating sniping and MEV.
Hold.Money: A crypto card that protects privacy.
SolFi: Solana liquidity protocol.
Rescue.meme: A MEME launch platform focused on stray pet rescue launched by Manta Network.
Rhythm: A crypto quantitative trading platform.
Senpi: AI for on-chain trading.
MyCryptoProtocol: AI intelligent coordination layer.
Politiswap: Political trading application.
o1.exchange: AI-driven DEX trading.
Communa.world: A platform for the RWA ecosystem.
babbleOS: AI system.
[Buzzing Club](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Buzzing Club?k=MTcyODg= "AI-driven prediction market"): A protocol that turns viral content into a prediction market using AI.
weeb.fun: A platform for launching and trading memecoins with friends.
MyStonks: A decentralized digital asset trading platform.
