Pantera Capital offers a clear assessment of the current state of crypto venture capital: the money hasn't decreased, but the investment approach has completely changed.

Data shows that total funding in the crypto space has reached $34 billion this year, a record high, but the number of deals has decreased by nearly 50% compared to 2021 and 2022. The reason is not complicated: capital is shifting from "early-stage, fragmented narrative bets" to "late-stage, more mature, and more certain projects".

Pantera reflects that in the previous cycle, the industry was quick to bet on the metaverse and NFTs, expecting them to become cultural and social infrastructure, even before the regulatory and payment infrastructure was mature. Essentially, the order of events was wrong.

At the same time, this round of investment is highly concentrated in mainstream assets such as Bitcoin, lacking the family offices and individual investors who were active in the pre-seed stage in 2021/2022.

The result is fewer transactions, more concentrated funding, and more rigorous due diligence. Crypto VCs are shifting from "storytelling" back to "getting the infrastructure right first."