365int
Crypto investors are pulling back, and it’s not just the heat.
Only 62 investment rounds happened in May — the lowest monthly number since early 2021. But weirdly, those few rounds still raised over $909 million. That’s second-best this year, just behind March’s $2.89 billion.
So what gives?
Experts say it’s a mix of things: prices took a hit after January, investor confidence dipped, and markets have been wobbling ever since.
Aurelie Barthere from Nansen says the action paused when tariff talks got heated again.
On top of that, high interest rates and shaky bond markets are spooking investors.
Patrick Heusser from Sentora says most deals now are companies joining forces — classic “let’s survive the storm together” moves. These are common when the market’s sleepy or just not exciting.
And Bitcoin?
Still the golden child. Everything else? Meh.
Meanwhile, M&A deals (that’s mergers and acquisitions)* are thriving. Coinbase dropped a whopping $2.9 billion to buy Deribit in May.
That’s the biggest crypto M&A deal ever, according to RootData.
Barthere thinks big players prefer these direct deals — they’re cleaner and don’t need VC middlemen. More crypto regulations are helping them make these moves.
Finally, Marcin Kazmierczak from RedStone reminds us that May-June is always a slow season. People hit the beach, not the deal table.
But wait for Q4 — that’s when the whales usually swim back in.
*M&A = When one company buys another or they merge to form a bigger one.
