Major early-stage investors during the third quarter of the year were still more excited about DeFi and web3 than all other industries, according to Pitchbook’s Tuesday Emerging Technology Indicator.

why does it matter: This comes after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital and the Terra stablecoin ecosystem, meaning a sizeable cohort of long-term crypto believers still remains in VC.

Details: Pitchbook found that its top 15 venture investors (defined by exits and by the percentage of companies that get subsequent capital rounds) invest the most capital in web3 and DeFi companies for the fifth consecutive quarter.

• They invested $879 million in 24 early-stage deals in the space, topping out categories like fintech and biotech.

yes but: The industry is still waiting to see how the FTX explosion will affect startups looking to raise funds. The bankruptcy created a contagion effect and eliminated FTX as an active investor in the entire space.

• “We expect the recent FTX failure to lead to a decline in early-stage cryptocurrency investment in the coming quarters,” the analysts wrote.
• The two largest crypto deals in Q3 involving these venture investors were Mysten Labs and Aptos Labs, both of which also generated rounds led by FTX Ventures. That means web3’s five-quarter streak may already be dead.