Author: RootData Research
Table of Contents
1. Q1 2024 Financing Amount Exceeded $2.6 Billion, a YoY Growth of 4.7%; DeFi Financing Amount Increased by More Than 150% MoM
Q1 2024 BTC Price Trend and Web3 Industry Financing Amount
Q1 2024 Top 3 Financing Amount in the Investment and Financing Track
2. YoY Growth of 10.5% in the Number of Early-Stage Financing Projects in Q1, Market Still Has Many Unverified Technologies and Solutions
Distribution of Financing Amounts for Q1 2024 Projects
Q1 2024 Top 5 Financing Amounts
3. Total Investment of the Top Ten Institutions with the Most Investments in Q1 Increased by 120% MoM, OKX Ventures Made 30 Investments and Became the Most Active Investment Institution in Q1
4. Characteristics and Trend Analysis of Popular Web3 Searches
Bitcoin, Solana, and Blast Ecosystem Projects Growing Rapidly, Developer Atmosphere and Wealth Effect Still Important Factors for Attracting Developers
Web3 Investor Attention Allocation Influenced by Financing Events, Rotation of Secondary Sectors, and Project TGE Events
Project Searches and Secondary Prices Show Correlation, Public Chains and DeFi Projects Still the Most Searched Asset Types
Sam Altman Tops the List in Searches and Clicks, Trading Clues Based on Popular Figures Being Increasingly Focused by More Investors
Summary
The total financing amount in the Web3 industry reached $2.545 billion in Q1 2024, with a YoY growth of 4.7%. Among them, the DeFi track was driven by popular sectors such as RWA and LSD, with both YoY and MoM financing amounts increasing by over 100%. The total inflow of funds into Bitcoin spot ETFs exceeded $12.1 billion, pushing the price of Bitcoin to over $72,000, reaching a new all-time high.
The number of projects that received investments in Q1 2024 increased by 10.5% YoY, with infrastructure, DeFi, and GameFi tracks attracting attention from the capital market. The total investment of the top ten institutions in terms of investment frequency increased by 120% MoM, with OKX Ventures being the most active.
The allocation of Web3 investor attention is mainly influenced by large investments from well-known institutions, project TGE events, airdrops, and other factors. AI, RWA, LSD, and DePIN sectors have been rotating, and users have a higher demand for finding popular investment targets. A total of 113 projects were selected in RootData’s Top 20 project search weekly list, of which 12 token projects showed a high correlation between search popularity and secondary market trends.
During Q1, investment targets such as the “Sam Altman concept” received significant market attention. Trading clues based on popular figures are being increasingly focused on by investors. As the Web3 industry becomes more mature and attracts more mainstream investors/entrepreneurs, opportunities for trading based on figures/events will continue to emerge.
1. Q1 2024 Financing Amount Exceeded $2.6 Billion, a YoY Growth of 4.7%; DeFi Financing Amount Increased by More Than 150% MoM
1.1 Q1 2024 BTC Price Trend and Web3 Financing Amount
Source: RootData
On January 10, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the trading and listing of 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs. As of March 31, the total inflow of funds into Bitcoin spot ETFs exceeded $12.1 billion, with total assets under management reaching $58.341 billion. Influenced by strong buying pressure from BTC spot ETFs, the price of Bitcoin rose to over $72,000, a 60% increase, reaching a new all-time high, and its market capitalization reached $1.4 trillion.
1.2 Q1 2024 Top 3 Financing Amounts in the Investment and Financing Track
Source: RootData
With the impressive performance of the Web3 secondary market, RootData statistics show that there were a total of 459 financing events in the Web3 primary market in Q1, a YoY increase of 28.7%, with a total financing amount of $2.545 billion, a YoY increase of 4.7%. Among them, the infrastructure, DeFi, and CeFi tracks were the top three tracks in terms of completed financing amount in Q1.
The financing amount for the DeFi track increased by over 100% YoY and MoM, while the financing amount for the CeFi track increased by 217.71% YoY, although the MoM growth was only 1.67%. The growth of the DeFi track can be attributed to the popularity of projects in sectors such as RWA and LSD since Q1, while the infrastructure track experienced a YoY and MoM decline of -24.31% and -5.05%, respectively. This can be attributed to the lack of new narratives in the Q1 infrastructure track and the fact that some fund managers allocated funds to the secondary market to increase short-term capital utilization.
2. YoY Growth of 10.5% in the Number of Early-Stage Financing Projects in Q1, Market Still Has Many Unverified Technologies and Solutions
2.1 Distribution of Financing Amounts for Q1 2024 Projects
Source: RootData
Looking at the financing amount ranges, the number of mid- to late-stage investments (> $10 million) in the Q1 stage remained stable compared to Q1 2023, while the number of early-stage investments ($5 million <) increased by 16 projects. This indicates that the capital market may still be in a valuation correction phase and that there are still many unverified technologies and solutions in the market.
According to RootData data, the top five projects in terms of financing amount in Q1 2024 received a total of over $400 million in financing. EigenLayer completed a $100 million financing led by a16z Crypto, and the repledging track was also one of the hottest trends in Q1 2024, with its TVL increasing by 1,100% from $1 billion to $12 billion. After the transition of Ethereum 2.0 consensus to PoS (Proof of Stake), repledging as a variant of staking has attracted more and more investors and projects.
2.2 Q1 2024 Top 5 Financing Amounts
Source: RootData
3. Total Investment of the Top Ten Institutions with the Most Investments in Q1 Increased by 120% MoM, OKX Ventures Made 30 Investments and Became the Most Active Investment Institution in Q1
Source: RootData
According to RootData data, the top ten institutions with the most investments in Q1 2024 participated in a total of 198 investments, an 85% YoY increase and a 120% MoM increase. Among these investments, infrastructure was the most popular track, with the top ten institutions making 96 investments, accounting for 48% of their total investments in Q1. This represents a 300% MoM increase and a 153% YoY increase.
It is worth mentioning that the top ten institutions in Q1 made a total of 40 investments in the DeFi track, with a YoY and MoM increase of 54%. The top ten institutions made 31 investments in the GameFi track, with a YoY and MoM increase of 210%. In comparison, the CeFi and DAO tracks received little favor from the top ten active investment institutions in Q1 2024, perhaps due to compliance and commercialization challenges and differences in funding exposure.
4. Characteristics and Trend Analysis of Popular Web3 Searches
4.1 Bitcoin, Solana, and Blast Ecosystem Projects Growing Rapidly, Developer Atmosphere and Wealth Effect Still Important Factors for Attracting Developers
Most L1/L2 projects showed a “V” shaped trend in terms of the number of projects. The decrease in the number of new projects in February may be due to the Chinese New Year holiday in East Asia, while March reached the peak of the first quarter.
Ethereum is still the preferred ecosystem for Web3 projects, while Bitcoin, Solana, and Blast ecosystems are growing rapidly. The Bitcoin ecosystem has evolved from inscriptions to runes, and the narrative is still strengthening. SOL had a growth rate of over 129% in the first quarter, making Solana one of the most eye-catching public chains. In the Blast ecosystem, 20 native projects raised funds, leading other Layer2 projects.
The number of some popular L1/L2 ecosystem projects that were not included is in single digits, such as ZkSync, StarkNet, Aptos, Sui, Near, etc. This is due to the niche nature of technical languages and the lack of effective guidance from foundations or short mainnet operation cycles.
4.2 Web3 Investor Attention Allocation Influenced by Financing Events, Rotation of Secondary Sectors, and Project TGE Events
RootData’s popular search rankings comprehensively consider the click volume, search volume, and bookmark volume of projects during a certain period, reflecting the market’s trend in project popularity. Currently, this ranking has become an important reference for the popularity of crypto projects.
Most projects on the list received large investments from well-known institutions, such as EigenLayer completing a $100 million Series B financing on February 22, which was the largest single financing in the first quarter. io.net completed an A round financing with a valuation of $1 billion on March 5.
The performance of the secondary market has attracted attention to “old” L1/L2 projects such as Solana and Metis. At the same time, emerging public chains like Aptos and Sui have also benefited from the rotation of the L1/L2 sector.
Project TGE events are one of the important factors that attract market attention. Projects such as StarkNet, Manta, and ZetaChain announced airdrop plans in January.
The rotation of AI, RWA, LSD, and DePIN sectors has increased the demand for finding popular investment targets, leading to an explosion in the number of projects.
4.3 Project Searches and Secondary Prices Show Correlation, Public Chains and DeFi Projects Still the Most Searched Types
RootData’s Top 20 project search weekly list was published 12 times in the first quarter, with a total of 113 projects selected. Overall, search volume is closely linked to market trends, with factors such as narratives, project TGE events, and price performance influencing it.
Public chains and DeFi searches account for the largest proportion of asset types. New asset categories are most likely to attract investor attention, such as Layer3, modular networks, repledging protocols, etc.
Among the 12 projects that have undergone TGE events, there is a high correlation between RootData’s search popularity and secondary market performance. This is even reflected in the forward-looking nature of projects such as Pyth Network, Manta Network, and Jupiter in the secondary market.
4.4 Sam Altman Tops the List in Searches and Clicks, Trading Clues Based on Popular Figures Being Increasingly Focused by More Investors
Source: RootData
In Q1 2024, there were 12 individuals who consistently appeared on the search rankings. The most searched figure was Sam Altman, the founder and CEO of OpenAI and co-founder of Worldcoin. Jack Lu followed closely behind, he is a partner at NGC Ventures and co-founder of popular blockchain projects such as BounceBit, Bitune, Bounce, and Chainswap. Balaji Srinivasan, Jia Yaoqi, Anatoly Yakovenko also enjoyed high popularity.
It is worth noting that during Q1, investment targets such as the “Sam Altman concept” received significant market attention. This is in line with the current Web3 industry’s trading structure, which is dominated by retail investors. WLD, ARKM, and FET became popular investment targets of the quarter. As the Web3 industry becomes more mature and attracts more mainstream investors/entrepreneurs, opportunities for trading based on figures/events will continue to emerge.
Source: RootData
When projects complete TGE events, there are often many personnel changes. Former LayerZero Head of Strategy, Irene Wu, has joined Bain Capital Crypto as a venture partner, and Sebastien, former head of DeFi at zkSync, has left his position and become a co-founder of Sophon, a modular blockchain for zkSync.
