Autor Cointelegraph By Bruno Invernizzi

This short-term decline in investments can be correlated to the recent market correction, which made Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies lose 50% or more of their value.According to new data released by Dove Metrics, total venture capital investment in crypto declined 38.2% over the past month, from $6.8 billion in April to $4.7 billion in May, while surging 97.8% since last year.Data on investment distribution showed infrastructure companies received 21% of the pie, while decentralized finance (DeFi) startups accounted for 14%. Centralized finance (CeFi) and nonfungible token (NFT) projects each accounted for 13%. This goes to show that venture capital funds might be playing safe by investing in core technologies that actually bring innovation to the crypto space, instead of riskier projects.Venture funding amounts by company. Source: Dove MetricsSome examples of this investment trend include Xendit, a payment gateway solution that focuses on Southeast Asia, and Lithosphere, a next-generation platform for cross-chain decentralized applications, raising $700 million combined.The largest allocation in May was led by Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the popular crypto exchange FTX, who invested $650 million into the popular brokerage platform Robinhood, securing 7.6% of company shares.Other important investments include the renowned analytics company Chainalysis and KuCoin, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, raising more than $150 million each.Largest crypto venture funds. Source: Dove MetricsData shows the United States as the largest source of venture investments, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong, a statistic that matches the global trend for VC.Some of the biggest venture capital names include Andressen Horowitz, with $4.5 billion raised for Web3 projects, bringing its total crypto investment allocation to $7.6 Billion. The firm is known for backing several successful projects in the past, such as Coinbase or Solana (SOL).Another big name is NGC Ventures, a Singapore-based firm that recently raised $100 million, aiming for “high-potential projects” in the Web3 space. Some of its successful previous investments include Algorand (ALGO) and Oasis (ROSE).Related: Cointelegraph Research launches venture capital databaseDespite the current crypto recession, venture capital seems to be more active than ever, with JPMorgan stating that the recent Terra ecosystem collapse didn’t affect VC. This showcases an underlying trust in crypto and blockchain technology evolution in the long term, with innovative technologies like Web3 and DeFi taking the lead.

With a 1,200% increase in received crypto volume between 2020 and 2021, the accelerated adoption of digital assets in Africa has captured the attention of multiple companies and organizations looking to take part in this growing market.Set to take place in June, the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Awareness Tour (BCAT) is a Binance-powered ongoing awareness campaign that has been spreading knowledge and trying to cultivate a strong crypto community in Africa. By reaching out to university students, mostly in southeast Nigeria, the campaign hopes to increase crypto adoption among Nigerian youth, the most predominant age group in the country.The main event will take place on June 4 at the Amadeo Event Centre in Enugu, Nigeria. Other stops on the tour include Uganda, Ghana, and Cameroon.Binance launched the BCAT tour in 2019 and claims to have reached over 60,000 Nigerians. This year’s event focuses heavily on concepts related to play-to-earn, the metaverse and nonfungible tokens.A new report reveals venture funding for African cryptocurrency startups grew 11x in 2022. How are these projects raising funds? @ghcryptoguy will be hosting @Naicker_94 and @gideongreaves from CV VC (Africa) to discuss this and more. Tune in: https://t.co/KVk6yiwosZ pic.twitter.com/ZxLiCUUa2C— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 25, 2022Despite being the smallest crypto economy in the world in terms of market penetration, Africa is adopting digital assets at a faster clip as locals look for alternatives to weak financial infrastructure and a lack of payment onramps. Remittances, peer-to-peer payments and savings have emerged as major adoption drivers for local residents, according to data from Chainalysis. Similar to Argentina, many people in Africa see Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as an escape from government policies and inflation.Related: Backed by Coinbase and Alameda, African exchange MARA eyes continental prospectsBCAT Africa 2022 is also looking to fulfill the need for a common crypto conversation space, especially in a place where most central banks have either forbidden or strictly regulated cryptocurrencies, which drove many Africans to peer-to-peer systems that have grown in popularity.