Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader cryptocurrency market have provided very little comfort in recent weeks, as macroeconomic headwinds and the implosion of the Terra ecosystem continue to reverberate. But, if we look beyond the immediate price action, we observe an industry that continues to grow and evolve, as well as attract sizable capital investments from major funders. The latest edition of venture capital (VC) Roundup highlights the continued growth of Web3 gaming, metaverse applications and even decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Related: Crypto Biz: Smart Money is betting big on Web3, layer 2, May 19-25 Andreessen Horowitz backs Irreverent Labs Blockchain …

Billions and billions. That’s what venture capitalists are spending to get ahead of the curve in crypto. Their latest fixation is Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions and Web3, an umbrella term that describes the next stage of the internet’s evolution. So, while the cryptocurrency market is in a state of extreme fear, smart money investors — TradFi folks who invest with expert knowledge — continue to pour countless sums into the space. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter gives you the latest funding stories from the world of blockchain and explores interesting developments surrounding Google and Sam Bankman-Fried. Andreessen Horowitz closes $4.5 …

Multi-strategy blockchain investment fund Old Fashion Research (OFR) has completed its first close. Led by several former executives from Binance, OFR invested in over 50 blockchain projects in its first year. According to an announcement, Old Fashion Research is now coming out of stealth mode, in which it has been operating since its foundation in late 2021. Since that time, OFR put money in more than 50 companies in different markets, such as WOO Network, Genopets, Metaverse Magna, MetaDerby and ZetaChain. The fund was founded by Ling Zhang, the former vice president of mergers and acquisitions, and investments at Binance; …

JPMorgan has placed Bitcoin’s (BTC) fair price at $38,000, which is 28% higher than its current level of around $29,500, according to a note the bank issued to clients on Wednesday. “The past month's crypto market correction looks more like capitulation relative to last January/February and going forward we see upside for Bitcoin and crypto markets more generally," the note said. Bank strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou was the lead author of that document. A bank investors’ note placed Bitcoin’s fair value at the same level in February. It was trading around $43,000 at that time. Crypto has surpassed real estate as …

Even though crypto markets appear to be on a long, arduous path ahead based on recent weeks of token turmoil, venture investors looking to get their hands on a Web3 future aren't slowing down. On Wednesday, venture capital giant, a16z, announced closing its fourth cryptocurrency fund at $4.5 billion. This brings the total money invested by Andreessen Horowitz in digital currency and blockchain business to more than $7.6 billion. The new investment vehicle will focus on early-stage ideas as well as projects that are more mature and have already shown some traction. According to the firm, $1.5 billion of the …

Crypto-focused venture firm NGC Ventures has launched a new ecosystem fund dedicated to Web3 projects, underscoring heightened investor demand for startups that are contributing to the development of a decentralized internet. NGC Metaverse Ventures, the company’s third blockchain fund, raised $100 million from investors that included Babel Finance, Huobi Ventures, Nexo Ventures, Altonomy and GBIC. The fund will allocate capital towards “high-potential projects” in the Web3 economy, according to Roger Lim, NGC Ventures’ general partner. The Web3 fund has already invested in three startups, NGC disclosed on Wednesday. Based in Singapore, NGC Ventures was founded in 2017 as a blockchain …

As many in Africa continue to adopt crypto and blockchain, more venture funding flowed into the continent in Q1 2022 than in Q1 2021, according to a new report by blockchain investment firm Crypto Valley Venture Capital (CV VC) and Standard Bank. The report, titled “The African Blockchain Report 2021,” shows that blockchain startups were able to raise $91 million in the first quarter of 2022. Q1 2022 saw a 1,668% year-on-year increase in cash inflow compared with Q1 2021's growth of 149% — a jump of more than 11x, according to CV VC. While Africa has not yet seen …

What is a DAO? A DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is an online-based organization that exists and operates with no single leader or governing body. DAOs are run by code written on a blockchain like Ethereum (ETH) and are owned and operated by the people who use them. There are many different types of DAOs, but they all have one thing in common: they are decentralized, meaning that decisions about the organization's future are decided by the collective group and not a single individual. This decentralization is what makes DAOs promising, as it theoretically removes the possibility of corruption or …

Has there ever been a worse time to be in crypto? It depends on how you look at it. Amid Terra’s death spiral, Bitcoin (BTC) recording seven-consecutive weekly red candles, over $1 trillion in lost market cap across the ecosystem and an aggressive Federal Reserve hell-bent on reversing the chaos it created, major banks are quietly increasing their exposure to the sector. You’re going to love this: Goldman Sachs — once the most passionate Bitcoin detractors — and Barclays are doing some strategic buying as they prepare for the future of crypto trading. Early polling from Terra vote indicates 91% …

The crypto job market shows few signs of slowing down despite high-profile cases of staff layoffs and hiring freezes across big tech companies. In recent weeks, several major tech companies have announced a paring back of staff, citing a downturn in the traditional market and narrowing demand for products that had boomed during the pandemic. Recently announced hiring cuts include Twitter, Uber, Amazon and Robinhood. On Tuesday, movie streaming service Netflix terminated the roles of 150 mostly United States-based employees amid a slowdown in revenue growth. Earlier this month, Facebook parent company Meta instituted a hiring freeze for most of …

Despite the generally negative price action across the crypto industry, continued venture capital investments in the space indicate that the industry is healthy and continues to evolve. Cointelegraph Research’s new venture capital database tracks the activity of VC firms and gives users access to the most important bellwether of innovation and early-stage activity. Macroeconomic factors have been strangling the crypto economy over the past few weeks and are stoking fears of a prolonged downturn. After the United States Federal Reserve announced it would hike interest rates by 50 basis points, crypto prices went into freefall. Then on May 9, a …

Terra’s meltdown forced cryptocurrency investors to ask a question they never thought was possible: Will TerraUSD (UST) or Terra (LUNA) reach $1.00 first? The magnitude of this question provides a sobering reminder of just how quickly things can change in crypto. While Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon remains defiant, many people in the industry are beginning to distance themselves from the protocol they thought was delivering real-world utility for stablecoins and Bitcoin (BTC). The threat of contagion from Terra’s apparent collapse could take months or even years to fully quantify, but it looks like the howls of crypto winter are …