Coinbase’s investment arm escalated its investment activity in 2021, sinking more capital into crypto projects last year than ever before.
Coinbase Ventures completed nearly 150 deals last year, averaging a new deal every 2.5 days, according to a new blog post from the company.
“On a cumulative basis, more than 90% of the capital COINBASE Ventures has deployed since inception was deployed in 2021, reflecting an accelerated pace of activity in our fourth year of operation.”
The venture fund now has investments in more than 250 companies, with a particular focus on two crypto sectors: decentralized finance (DeFi) and centralized finance (CeFi). Each category represents 23% of Coinbase Ventures’ total portfolio.
In terms of DeFi, the venture fund is bullish on multiple blockchains.
“We’re believers in the multichain future, and although we remained most active within Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem, we also invested across Solana (Orca, Solend), Cosmos (Umee), Algorand (Folks), Polkadot (Acala, Moonbeam), NEAR, Polygon and Bitcoin.”
Coinbase Ventures also supports projects that aim to make DeFi more secure.
“While DeFi made great strides in 2021, exploits of these nascent financial protocols hampered the ecosystem, amounting to over $10 billion. Better user protection remains paramount, which is why Coinbase Ventures supported DeFi insurance financial protocols including Neptune Mutual, Risk Harbor, Cozy Finance and Nayms.”
On the CeFi end of the spectrum, the venture fund invested in traditional vehicles for crypto exposure, like individual retirement accounts (IRAs), exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and trusts, as well as localized financial services providers.
“We believe that crypto is inherently global, and there is a need for localized platforms that serve as onramps across distinct regulatory, banking and infrastructure regimes. This is why in 2021, we were active investors in crypto financial service providers everywhere from LatAm, Pan-Africa, MENA, South Asia, Europe and North America.”
Across the space, a total of more than $30 billion worth of venture funding was invested into crypto and Web3 projects in 2021, more than all other previous years combined, according to Coinbase Ventures.
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