Ben Lakoff, CFA’s Post

Sell in May (and we should’ve gone away)? Or a small, overdue pullback on the way to the Banana zone? Ngl, crypto sentiment right now is rough. There is a noticeable fatigue and cynicism in the crypto market, despite higher prices compared to previous years. Fortunately, we're optimistic people. The liquidity cycle will likely continue, “Banana Zone” is still incoming. Take the quiet of the summer to re-evaluate your thesis and (potentially) buy the dips accordingly. Go touch grass a bit this summer and don’t look at the charts. Zoom out. Good luck out there. Want to see all the Crypto Funding Details from June? Deals are still being made, others are still bullish. Check it out here 🫡: https://lnkd.in/gSU5mF_p

Last week, after the floods in Dubai we held Bankless Ventures ' 12th run at a crypto conference & perhaps had the best views yet. See you at the next one! 🏃♂️ 🏃♀️

We are actively #hiring at Bankless Ventures Know anyone who might be interested? Have them please apply

In March, 36 Deals w/ funding >$10M. VC Dry Powder is being deployed & Markets continue to rip. Deploy with haste to raise your VC's next fund? Every month I post The Deal Flow Digest w/: - Recap of largest web3 funding rounds - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - VC Fundraises Full Post Here: https://lnkd.in/gt-fAugQ

Crypto is highly reflexive. Public markets go up and then shortly after, Private Markets start to heat up. In Feb: - 17 Deals w/ funding >$10M  - 20 >$5M (and less than $10M) Public Markets ripping now and - private markets are as well. Deals are being bid up to crazy valuations & closing at record speeds. Bull Market is mostly priced in? Strap in. Crypto is cool again? Higher for longer? Certainly feels that way with these flows. In the report, you'll also find: - Recap of month's largest web3 funding rounds - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - Crypto VC Fund Fundraises Disclosure: Bankless Ventures is an investor in a few of the deals announced this month. Can see all of them at: bankless.com/disclosures. Full Deal Flow Digest Report here: https://lnkd.in/g82s9dBY

People love to forecast. 🔮 I read and aggregated 16 of the top 2024 (crypto market) Predictions so you don't have to. The TLDR? Most people are bullish. 🐂 Bullish on crypto, bullish on institutional adoption (via BTC ETF, then likely ETH ETF)... it feels “consensus” that 2024 will be a good year for crypto. Yes, this is a subset of very much crypto-native firms, but whenever everyone agrees that “it’s a bull market” the market has… a tendency to inflict pain. I’m bullish too. At times it’s easier to predict where we’re going, but it’s much harder to predict when it’ll happen. I agree we will likely be in a good spot at EOY’24 - both in terms of price and working through the backlog of building and shipping… But, maybe over we’re a bit over our skis? Is sentiment is too good relative to what has happened? BTC ETF inflows likely aren’t linear at $1B in inflows each year. What catalyst brings in retail again? People tend to OVER estimate what will happen in 2 years and UNDER estimate what will happen in 10 years. Things don’t go up in a straight line. You can scroll through the summary and the individual reports, but common trends observed in predictions would include being pretty bullish on: - Bitcoin  - Bitcoin DeFi (L2s, Ordinals, etc.) - DePin - Solana - Restaking (e.g. EigenLayer) - Crypto x AI (e.g. Vitalik’s new article) - Stablecoins / CBDCs (below) Keep in mind: the consensus is normally wrong and doesn’t lead to outperformance. People don’t have a crystal ball. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gGWse5nh

November Crypto Venture Deals Report. 🐂 Some figures: Nov’23: $2.13B Oct’23: $820.7M Nov’22: $3.66B Also: - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - Crypto VC Fund Fundraises Enjoy! https://lnkd.in/gdrQGpVv

October Crypto Venture Deals Report In terms of # & $, 3Q23 was lowest quarter since 4Q20. Numbers still trending down. Additionally: - Recap of largest web3 funding rounds - Airtable with ALL the data - Hackathons & Demo Days - Crypto VC Fund Fundraises Enjoy: https://lnkd.in/gdknSB4v