Crypto.com’s venture arm scales back activity amid dubious market valuations

Crypto.com’s venture arm has scaled back its investment activity as the sustainability of surging valuations in the sector becomes less evident.

Crypto.com Capital, a venture arm of the company of the same name which had $500 million available for investments in startups in the sector as of January 2022, has reduced its investment activity over the past 18 months, according to a Bloomberg report.

Analysts at Dealroom noted a decrease in crypto.com investments since the beginning of 2023, compared to previous years, saying the firm made only four deals since the start of 2023, compared with 35 in the two years prior to that period.

In a commentary with Bloomberg, crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek admitted the reduction in funding activities, saying that at this moment “valuations being thrown around by project teams are very generous,” while the firm is trying “to be reasonable on this.” Marszalek also noted that the venture arm has made approximately 70 investments to date, but didn’t disclose an exact figure.

Despite the overall caution, recent venture capital deals in the industry have seen significant sums being raised, Bloomberg notes, pointing out crypto.com Capital’s participating in funding Berachain, a blockchain network operated by pseudonymous founders, which secured $100 million at a valuation of at least $1 billion.

Crypto.com is not the only firm on the crypto market, which paused its investment activity, as other companies in the market are also slowing down their investments. For example, venture giant Andreessen Horowitz redirected its focus towards artificial intelligence, diverting attention away from crypto investments for now.