What are the Biggest Crypto Funding Rounds Ever Raised?
FTX Trading raised the biggest crypto startup funding round to date, with a $900 million Series B in July 2021. While the global crypto exchange FTX has since filed for bankruptcy, the Series B funding then had valued Sam Bankman-Fried’s company at $18 billion. Investors behind the record-holding raise included Paradigm, Sequoia Capital and SoftBank, which subsequently had to write-down their investment in the fallout from FTX’s collapse.
Blockchain game platform Forte raised the second highest crypto funding round of $725 million, also in a Series B that was completed in November 2021. The successful Series B raise followed after a $185 million Series A that Forte had closed earlier in the year.
The top 3 biggest crypto funding rounds ever raised were all in the second half of 2021. NFT marketplace Sorare came in third for its $680 million Series B, which was completed in September 2021.
Overall, the 50 largest crypto startup funding stories of all-time saw $170 million to $900 million raised per round. A total of over $15.7 billion was invested in these outsized crypto fundraising rounds, ranging from Seed deals to Series F.
82% of Biggest Crypto Funding Rounds Happened in 2021 or 2022
Out of the 50 biggest crypto funding rounds, 23 raises were completed in 2021 (46%) and 18 raises were in 2022 (36%). Specifically for 2022, 12 of the 18 funding rounds were closed in the first quarter. Not only did venture capital (VC) funding in crypto decrease from Q2 2022 onwards, VC risk appetite also shrank and major crypto funding rounds became less common.
The 23 funding rounds in 2021 raised more than $7.6 billion in total, while the 18 funding rounds in 2022 represented over $5.3 billion raised. Altogether, the favorable funding conditions in 2021 and 2022 resulted in 41 of the top 50 largest crypto funding rounds ever.
In contrast, only 2 of the top 50 crypto funding rounds were raised in 2023. However, it is important to note that Ledger’s $493 million Series C round was raised in two tranches, with a majority $385 million completed in 2021 and a follow-up $108 million in 2023.
The rest of the biggest crypto funding rounds are 5 completed in 2018, as well as 1 each in 2019 and 2020.
Series B & C Raises Led the Top Crypto Funding Rounds
Series B and B1 raises were the most common type among the biggest crypto funding rounds, accounting for 17 of the top 50, or a combined $5.7 billion. Series C and C1 raises were almost as common, representing 15 of the 50 biggest crypto funding rounds, or over $4.0 billion in total.
This suggests that crypto startups and companies might have been able to gain stronger investor confidence during their Series B and Series C rounds.
Series D raises represented another 10 of the 50 biggest crypto funding rounds, or a combined $3.1 billion. Of the remaining top crypto funding rounds, 2 were raised at the seed stage, 3 at Series A, 2 at Series E, and 1 Series F.
8 Crypto Companies Achieved the Biggest Crypto Funding Rounds Twice
Among the 42 crypto startups and companies, 8 ranked twice in the all-time biggest crypto funding rounds: FTX, Bitmain, ConsenSys, BlockFi, Dapper Labs, Amber Group, Bakkt and Alchemy Insights. Notably, besides FTX’s Series B and C raises for its international arm, FTX US’ $400 million Series A also ranked among the top raises.
These 8 crypto startups and companies can be considered the ‘tech giant’ equivalents in the crypto industry, given their strong backing from VCs and other major investors.
Top 50 All-Time Biggest Crypto Funding Rounds
The 50 largest crypto startup fundraising rounds from 2017 to 2023, ranked by amount raised in a single funding round:
| Rank | Crypto Startup & Round | Funding Raised (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FTX Trading – Series B | $900 million |
| 2 | Forte – Series B | $725 million |
| 3 | Sorare – Series B | $680 million |
| 4 | MoonPay – Series A | $555 million |
| 5 | Ledger – Series C | $493 million |
| 6 | Yuga Labs – Seed | $450 million |
| 7 | ConsenSys – Series D | $450 million |
| 8 | Circle – Series F | $440 million |
| 9 | Bitmain – Series B1 | $422 million |
| 10 | Gemini – Series D | $400 million |
| 11 | FTX US – Series A | $400 million |
| 12 | FTX Trading – Series C | $400 million |
| 13 | Ava Labs – Series B | $350 million |
| 14 | BlockFi – Series D | $350 million |
| 15 | NEAR Protocol – Series D | $350 million |
| 16 | Anchorage Digital – Series D | $350 million |
| 17 | Dapper Labs – Series C | $305 million |
| 18 | Fireblocks – Series D | $310 million |
| 19 | OpenSea – Series C | $300 million |
| 20 | Paxos – Series D | $300 million |
| 21 | Amber Group – Series C | $300 million |
| 22 | Bakkt – Series B | $300 million |
| 23 | Mysten Labs – Series B | $300 million |
| 24 | Coinbase – Series E | $300 million |
| 25 | Blockchain.com – Series C | $300 million |
| 26 | Bitmain – Series B | $293 million |
| 27 | CoinSwitch Kuber – Series C | $260 million |
| 28 | Alchemy Insights – Series C | $250 million |
| 29 | Bitso – Series C | $250 million |
| 30 | Dapper Labs – Series D | $250 million |
| 31 | Qulian Technology – Series B | $234 million |
| 32 | BlockFi – Series E | $225 million |
| 33 | FalconX – Series C | $210 million |
| 34 | Blockstream – Series B | $210 million |
| 35 | Immutable – Series C | $200 million |
| 36 | Mercado Bitcoin – Series B | $200 million |
| 37 | Alchemy Insights – Series C1 | $200 million |
| 38 | Aptos Labs – Seed | $200 million |
| 39 | ConsenSys – Series C | $200 million |
| 40 | Amber Group – Series B1 | $200 million |
| 41 | Ripple – Series C | $200 million |
| 42 | Figure Technologies – Series D | $200 million |
| 43 | Aleo Systems – Series B | $200 million |
| 44 | Nova Labs – Series D | $200 million |
| 45 | Limit Break – Series B | $200 million |
| 46 | Copper Technologies – Series C | $196 million |
| 47 | Bakkt – Series A | $183 million |
| 48 | 1inch Network – Series B | $175 million |
| 49 | Bitpanda – Series B | $170 million |
| 50 | Autograph – Series B | $170 million |
Methodology
The study examined the largest crypto startup funding rounds from 2017 to 2023, based on PitchBook data and publicly available reports as of September 27, 2023. As the focus was on traditional venture capital startup funding, fundraising on-chain and by publicly-traded companies were not included.
This study is for illustrative and informational purposes only, and is not financial advice. Always do your own research and be careful when putting your money into any crypto or financial asset.
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Yuqian is a cryptocurrency writer and marketer who specializes in mainstream cryptocurrency insights. She's especially fascinated by the philosophical and socioeconomic aspects of crypto and also goes by the name of Q. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honors from the National University of Singapore. Follow the author on Twitter @solosbrqt
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