Can crypto’s recent wins resurrect venture interest?

Like a tenacious balloon, no matter how hard crypto gets knocked down, it tends to float back up again. I’ve found that to be true in all the years I have covered the decentralized market and economy since 2013.

Still, the latest crypto bust is starting to look a little different.

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After a lengthy downturn — a crypto winter, if you want — blockchains and their constituent tokens and services seem to be on a rebound. Data paints the picture: Spot trading volumes reached a 12-month high earlier this month, the total value of crypto tokens has appreciated materially in recent months, and even NFTs are showing signs of life.

Adding to the count, the recent launch of spot bitcoin ETFs shows that in the critical United States technology market, the legal system may remain more crypto-positive than elsewhere in the world. China and India come to mind.

Yet, despite the run of positive news, venture capitalists’ interest in web3 startups continued to decline in Q4 2023, dipping further underneath a severely depressed third-quarter figure. This begs the question: When will VCs turn the spigots back on?