Some venture investors are doubling down on crypto despite an unknown recovery timeline – TechCrunch

If you believe in the future prominence of crypto, does a few years make a real difference?

The crypto markets might be red all over, but that isn’t stopping many venture capitalists from investing in the space.

Valuations across the crypto industry are being pulled back and the sector has grown more investor friendly. Many VCs see this period as a great opportunity and are shifting their crypto investment strategies to maximize potential during the bear market. Powering that potential deal-making, a number of large crypto-focused funds launched this week, including Multicoin Capital’s $430 million venture fund, its third and biggest fund to date, and Protagonist’s $100 million fund, focused on early-stage crypto companies.

Like the traditional technology world, crypto works in cycles, Craig Burel, partner at crypto-focused firm Reciprocal Ventures, said to TechCrunch. “During booming times, you get wild experimental applications with new use cases that are out there or fringey, and so many of them break or fall apart and go flat.”

But in bear markets?

“Infrastructure gets built to stand those applications up again but in a successful way. That’s where we tend to focus and lean in during bear markets,” Burel added.