• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Some Fortune Crypto pricing data is provided by Binance.
The LedgerBlockchain

Here’s How the World’s Top VCs Bet on Blockchain in 1 Chart

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 17, 2017, 8:00 AM ET

Venture capital firms have been plunking down millions of dollars in funding on startups pitching blockchain tech, the innovative accounting ledgers that underpin cryptocurrencies and power nifty, distributed databases.

As interest in all things crypto heats up, initial coin offerings—a crowdsourced way for crypto projects to raise money—have become all the rage, allowing fledgling projects to raise ample funds without needing institutional backers. Despite the democratizing trend, VC firms are on track to ink 77 traditional deals with blockchain startups by year’s end—more than any year prior.

So far, VC firms have struck 59 deals this year, already exceeding the 57 signed last year.

Now you can see where the biggest brand name investors’ purses intersect. CB Insights, a market research firm that tracks the venture capital industry, mapped out the relationships between some of the most prestigious VC dealmakers in a new report previewed exclusively with Fortune.

Many of the firms will be familiar to people who follow the money in Silicon Valley and beyond: Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz among them. The diagram below reveals which traditional equity deals these firms have in common.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

Courtesy of CB Insights

Several trends become clear as you peruse the ties. Andreessen Horowitz likes to invest alongside Union Square Ventures, as seen in joint fundings in Coinbase, the most well-known crypto broker, OpenBazaar, a decentralized online marketplace, and Mediachain, a song royalty tracker since acquired by Spotify. Sequoia, meanwhile, places bets more sparingly, backing only Bitmain Technologies, a Bitcoin miner—though the firm has also contributed non-equity investment funding to hedge funds like Polychain and Metastable as well as ICO-backed projects like FileCoin.

Note that the biggest-name investors included above are not necessarily the biggest investors in blockchain tech. Digital Currency Group, an investment firm led by Barry Silbert, founder of SecondMarket (an exchange for private company stock) and alumni of Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list, leads the pack with more than 100 investments in roughly 75 blockchain companies. Blockchain Capital lands in the runner-up spot, with Draper Associates placing third in terms of number of deals.

Check out the CB Insights report for more interesting blockchain VC tidbits. And tune into this October 26 webinar, where CB Insights analyst Arieh Levi, the report’s author, and I will provide a rundown of the blockchain landscape as well as field questions from attendees.

Correction 10/23/17: This post and accompanying graphic have been updated to reflect the relationships of several VC firms and their investments in blockchain startups. Sequoia Capital was not an investor in the now defunct company Koinify. And while Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures are both limited partners in the hedge fund Polychain Capital, only the latter is an equity investor.

This article is part of Fortune’s new initiative, The Ledger, a trusted news source at the intersection of tech and finance. Click here for more on The Ledger.
About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in The Ledger

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in The Ledger

Keeping up with the SEC: Here’s what Kim Kardashian and your financial adviser have in common
CommentaryEndorsements
Keeping up with the SEC: Here’s what Kim Kardashian and your financial adviser have in common
By Michael BoeseNovember 29, 2022
3 years ago
Crypto lender BlockFi files for bankruptcy after FTX implosion
FinanceFTX
Crypto lender BlockFi files for bankruptcy after FTX implosion
By Chris MorrisNovember 28, 2022
3 years ago
New York bans new crypto mining power plants—for now
The LedgerFlorida
New York bans new crypto mining power plants—for now
By The Associated PressNovember 23, 2022
3 years ago
Sam Bankman-Fried gives most detailed  explanation yet about FTX’s collapse in letter to staff while still claiming ignorance of wrongdoing
The LedgerFTX
Sam Bankman-Fried gives most detailed explanation yet about FTX’s collapse in letter to staff while still claiming ignorance of wrongdoing
By Joanna Ossinger and BloombergNovember 22, 2022
3 years ago
Crypto brokerage Genesis said to be warning investors it may declare bankruptcy if it can’t raise at least $1 billion
The LedgerCryptocurrency
Crypto brokerage Genesis said to be warning investors it may declare bankruptcy if it can’t raise at least $1 billion
By Lydia Beyoud, Sonali Basak, Vildana Hajric, Muyao Shen and BloombergNovember 22, 2022
3 years ago
New FTX CEO hired to clean up Sam Bankman-Fried’s mess is being paid $1,300 an hour
The LedgerFTX
New FTX CEO hired to clean up Sam Bankman-Fried’s mess is being paid $1,300 an hour
By Jack Schickler and CoinDeskNovember 21, 2022
3 years ago

Most Popular

Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
Success
Apple cofounder Ronald Wayne—whose stake would be worth up to $400 billion had he not sold it in 1976—says that at 91, he has no regrets
By Preston ForeApril 27, 2026
3 days ago
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
Banking
‘They left me no choice’: Powell isn’t going anywhere—blocking Trump from another Fed appointee
By Eva RoytburgApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
Economy
Jamie Dimon gets candid about national debt: ‘There will be a bond crisis, and then we’ll have to deal with it’
By Eleanor PringleApril 29, 2026
1 day ago
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
Big Tech
Google Cloud revenue is now 18% of Alphabet's business. Is this the beginning of the end of Google's search identity?
By Alexei OreskovicApril 29, 2026
18 hours ago
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
AI
‘The cost of compute is far beyond the costs of the employees’: Nvidia executive says right now AI is more expensive than paying human workers
By Sasha RogelbergApril 28, 2026
3 days ago
Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: 'It won't matter'
Future of Work
Elon Musk says saving for retirement is irrelevant because AI is going to create a world of abundance: 'It won't matter'
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezApril 26, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.