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Analyzing the recent holdings of various VCs from a16z to Wintermute

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Analyzing the recent holdings of various VCs from a16z to Wintermute

The long-standing KOL The DeFi Edge has compiled the holdings and trading behaviors of several mainstream crypto VC institutions, observing that most VCs hold traditional DeFi tokens, while NFTs and GameFi have waned in popularity, with institutions shifting towards AI, infrastructure, and even meme coins.

Top Crypto VC Holdings

The DeFi Edge points out that many might think checking VC holdings is meaningless, especially since VCs have significant informational advantages over retail investors and often participate in projects at an early stage. However, they are curious about recent VC activities. Are they interested in meme coins? Are they still holding onto outdated projects that no longer perform?

However, they also remind:

  • Don't blindly mimic VC investment strategies. They have better trading opportunities and a more diverse range of targets.

  • It's impossible to track all wallets.

The DeFi Edge uses tools like DeBank, Arkham, Etherscan, etc., to compile the holdings value, primary and secondary assets, and recent activities of each VC.

1. a16z $482 million

  • Primary assets: UNI $436 million, OP, COMP

  • a16z is one of the major UNI holders, with enough weight to influence UNI ecosystem decisions as 4% of the supply reaches the statutory number.

  • Recent changes: Started receiving OP token ownership.

2. Galaxy Digital $365 million

  • Primary assets: BTC, ETH, AVAX

  • Galaxy Digital engages in significant stablecoin and BTC trading, possibly executing arbitrage strategies.

  • Recent changes: Withdrew $3.3 million AVAX from Binance.

3. Jump Trading $286 million

  • Primary assets: USDC, USDT, stETH, ETH, WETH, SHIB, SNX

  • The portfolio is relatively conservative, holding ETH and stablecoins primarily, but also competitive coins like Threshold Network, SHIB, and SNX.

  • Recent changes: Started depositing ETH into LMAX.

4. Wintermute $160 million

  • Primary assets: USDC, WBTC, PEPECOIN, ETH, USDT, TKO, CBBTC, MATIC

  • Heavy investor in meme coins, acting as a market maker, holding significant amounts of PEPECOIN, MOG, NEIRO, etc.

  • Recent changes: Increased holdings of CBBTC and BTC, sold a large amount of SHIB.

5. Pantera Capital $161 million

  • Primary assets: ONDO, ETHX, SD, ECOX, LDO, PERC, NOTE

  • Transferred a large amount of MATIC to Coinbase and LDO to Anchorage.

  • Recent changes: Investment value in ONDO decreased by 56%.

6. Blockchain Capital $67.1 million

  • Primary assets: AAVE, UNI, ETH, UMA, SAFE, 1INCH, COW, FORT, USDC

  • Heavy on AAVE and holding for many years.

  • Recent changes: Large amount of ETH transferred to Anchorage.

7. Spartan Group $35.38 million

  • Primary assets: PENDLE, GAL, MNT, OP, IMX, WILD, GRT, AEVO, USDC, PTU, RBN, 1INCH

  • Heavy on PENDLE, mostly engaging in arbitrage trading.

  • Recent changes: Moved all BEAM to the upcoming Sophon chain for airdrops.

8. DeFiance Capital $33.6 million

  • Primary assets: PYUSD, LDO, BEAM, USDC, TBILL

  • Invested in some gaming tokens.

  • Recent changes: Multiple trades with the shooting game Shrapnel.

Observations by DeFi Edge

  • Commonalities: a16z, Jump, Wintermute, and Blockchain Capital all hold old-school DeFi tokens like UNI, AAVE, and stablecoins.

  • Long-term holdings: a16z and Blockchain Capital have diamond hands, holding the mentioned DeFi tokens for years.

  • Arbitrage trading: Many VC firms are heavily engaged in stablecoin arbitrage trading.

  • L2 investments: Increasing investments in BTC L2 projects.

  • Early investments still dominant: VC's early investments account for about 13% of market trades.

  • AI, infrastructure, and meme coins as new trends: NFTs, GameFi are waning, shifting towards AI, infrastructure, and even meme coins.

DeFi Edge notes that compared to the same period from 2021 to 2022, total investments have significantly decreased, and the investment scale shows little correlation with Bitcoin prices.

They emphasize that the key to this analysis is scanning VC behavior to identify potential trends and understand how they operate. Instead of following VCs, use them as research resources.

Funding trends from 2016 to present