VC Investment Trends (2024) - The DeFi Edge

This is the strangest cycle yet ------ No one can predict what will happen next. At times like this, it can be helpful to understand what others are doing.

This is the strangest cycle yet - no one can predict what will happen next

At times like this, it can be helpful to understand what others are doing. So, I spent the entire weekend researching the recent movements of those venture capital bigwigs.

I know some of you might be thinking, "They are just casting a wide net and profiting from early investments."

In fact, I don't think they are the smartest people, especially after experiencing the last cycle. But we should still pay attention to them: because they do have an information advantage, ample funds, and are closer to the project developers than we are.

I wonder:

Are they making any interesting moves?

Are they as enthusiastic about altcoins as we are?

Or do they still hold some legacy coins?

So, my friend Edgy condensed hours of research into a simple five-minute read.

Let's take a look at what these suited speculators are up to.

Notes:

Do not simply mimic the actions of venture capitalists. They have better trading opportunities, and their strategies differ from ours. The information here is just to help us better understand other participants in the field.

We cannot track all wallets. We have done our best through crowdsourced tagging and our own on-chain analysis, but it is impossible to capture all movements.

We selected some funds and ranked them by size. We will introduce each fund's total balance, major assets, smaller assets, and some interesting recent actions.

Top Crypto Venture Capital Firms and Their Holdings

1.

a16z ($482.3 million)

Major Assets:

UNI: $436 million

OP: $31 million

COMP: $14 million

Smaller Assets: ETH ($14,000), COLLE ($6,000)

a16z is one of the largest holders of UNI in the market. They have enough influence to veto proposals, as their 4% UNI can reach the quorum. They have held UNI for years. Recently, a change in a16z's wallet was the initial unlocking of their OP, which they have held.

2.

Galaxy Digital ($364.5 million)

Major Assets:

BTC: $194 million

ETH: $115 million

USDC: $40 million

USDT: $5 million

AVAX: $4 million

USDC: $1.3 million

AAVE: $1.14 million

Notable Smaller Assets ($100,000 - $150,000): MKR, OXT, UNI, TOKE

They generated a large volume of trades, primarily for stablecoins and BTC. Possibly diversifying tokens and engaging in some arbitrage strategies. Recently, they withdrew $3.3 million worth of AVAX from Binance.

3.

Jump Trading ($286.4 million)

Major Assets:

USDC: $78 million

USDT: $70.38 million

stETH: $70.38 million

ETH: $54.9 million

T: $2.15 million

WETH: $1.24 million

SHIB: $1.2 million

SNX: $1.16 million

Smaller Holdings: ($200,000 - $700,000) including MKR, LDO, GRT, DAI, UNI, KNC, HMT, BNB, CVX, COMP, INJ, MNT.

Jump's portfolio is primarily composed of ETH and stablecoins, which is common in venture capital. Notably, they also hold Threshold Network, SHIB, and SNX.

While some claim Jump has exited the crypto space, they are still actively engaged in various operations. They have also started depositing ETH into LMAX, a crypto exchange catering to institutions.

4.

Wintermute ($159.8 million)

Major Assets:

USDC: $16.6 million

WBTC: $11.15 million

PEPECOIN: $10.52 million

ETH: $10.39 million

USDT: $9.11 million

TKO: $4.67 million

CBBTC: $4.63 million

MATIC: $4.41 million

BMC: $4.36 million

NEIRO: $3.48 million

Smaller Assets: ($200,000 - $3 million) including BASEDAI, TON, ZK, MOG, stETH, ARB, ENA, ARKM, APE, LDO, ONDO, etc.

Wintermute stands out in the meme coin space. Their largest holding is PEPECOIN (not PEPE, but another meme coin), and they also have significant investments in meme coins like