London-based venture capital firm Molten Ventures wrote down the value of its stakes in crypto wallet provider Ledger and digital bank Revolut Ltd., which offers crypto trading, in a sign that VCs are becoming more sympathetic to tech startups and the crypto industry. cautious.

Molten Ventures said in its annual report on Thursday that the fair value of its investment in Ledger was £71.8 million by March 2023, down 22% from £91.9 million in 2022. Meanwhile, Revolut's valuation has fallen by 40% to £54.5m over the same period. Overall, the fair value of Molten's total portfolio fell 16% year-on-year to £1.4bn.

Last year, the crypto industry itself was hit by a string of high-profile company closures, falling prices and regulatory backlash, dampening investor expectations for growth, the report said. According to data from PitchBook in April this year, venture capital investment in encryption companies plummeted to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of this year, the lowest level since 2020 and an 80% drop from the all-time high of $12.3 billion in the same period last year. .