KuCoin’s research division released a report indicating that the cryptocurrency industry attracted over $1 billion in investments in May, showing a slight decline from the previous month.
According to KuCoin Research on June 13th, there were 156 investment announcements in May, with a total of $1.02 billion flowing into the industry. This marked a 10.61% increase compared to May 2023, but a 6.4% decrease from April.
Ethereum, EVM blockchains, and L2 networks remained the top choices for institutional investors, although non-EVM chains like Bitcoin, Solana, Fantom, and TON also made it to the list of popular networks.
Animoca Brands and OKX Ventures were the most active investors in May, with Animoca Brands participating in 15 deals and OKX Ventures investing in 11 projects. Cogitent Ventures, SNZ Holding, and DWF Labs were also active, closing 10, 8, and 7 deals respectively.
KuCoin Research suggested that investors turned to meme and celebrity tokens in May as a response to concerns about the high fully diluted valuations in the crypto market. Tokens like Notcoin (NOT) gained popularity due to their unique approach of launching with all tokens available from the start.
Notcoin’s price performance from May 17 to June 3 showed significant growth, reaching a new all-time high of $0.02896 on June 2. On June 3, NOT became the fifth most-traded cryptocurrency, surpassing the trading volume of the popular stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) and pushing its market capitalization over $2 billion.
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