Ethereum drives KuCoin to 1B in institutional investments

Update as of June 14th at 6:00 am UTC: This article has been revised to clarify the distinction between institutional and retail investments.
A recent report from KuCoin’s research division revealed that the cryptocurrency sector attracted more than $1 billion in investments in May, slightly down from the previous month.
On June 13th, KuCoin Research announced that there were 156 publicly disclosed investments in May, with a total of $1.02 billion pouring into the industry. This marked a 10.61% increase compared to May 2023 but was 6.4% lower than April’s figures.
Ethereum, EVM blockchains, and L2 networks continue to dominate
When it comes to investments, Ethereum, Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains, and layer-2 (L2) network projects remained popular choices for institutional investors. However, non-EVM chains like Bitcoin, Solana, Fantom, and TON also ranked among the top 15 networks favored by investors in May.
Animoca Brands and OKX Ventures emerged as the most active investors last month, with Animoca Brands participating in 15 deals and OKX Ventures backing 11 projects. Additionally, Cogitent Ventures, SNZ Holding, and DWF Labs were also actively involved in May, completing 10, 8, and 7 deals, respectively.
In response to the concerns surrounding the high fully diluted valuations (FDV) trend in the crypto space, retail investors turned to meme and celebrity tokens in May, according to KuCoin Research. They sought alternatives due to the limited scope resulting from tokens launching with high valuations and low circulating supplies.
One of the tokens that benefited from this shift was Notcoin (NOT), as highlighted by KuCoin Research. The token’s launch with all tokens available from the start contributed to its growth last month.
From May 17th to June 3rd, NOT demonstrated impressive price performance. On June 3rd, NOT became the fifth most-traded cryptocurrency, surpassing the trading volume of the popular stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). The token reached a new all-time high of $0.02896 on June 2nd, propelling its market capitalization above $2 billion.