The Private Crypto Market Looks to be Rebounding

Monad Labs, an Ethereum competitor, is reportedly in talks to raise more than $200 million at a $3 billion valuation.

Why it matters: While the overall crypto market is hitting all time highs, the venture market has yet to rebound.

• According to Crunchbase, there have only been 219 crypto fundraises in 2024, compared with 571 in the same period a year ago.

But valuations and capital raised are up: It’s not only Monad Labs raising funds at eye popping valuations. In just the past few weeks we have:

• Elixir, a DeFi market-making protocol, announced a $8 million Series B at an $800 million valuation.

• Eclipse, a prelaunch SVM rollup, announced a $50 million Series A. While we don’t know the valuation, our guess is… high.

• And don’t forget that Eigen Layer just raised $100 million.

Back on the wagon: Paradigm, which is reported to lead Monad’s round, looks to have changed their tune after seemingly pivoting to AI last year.