Digital asset investment firms poured $2.7 billion into decentralized finance projects in 2022 — up 190% from 2021 — while investments into centralized finance projects went the other way — falling 73% to $4.3 billion in the same timeframe. The staggering rise in DeFi funding came despite overall crypto funding figures falling from $31.92 billion in 2021 to $18.25 billion in 2022.

According to a March 1 report from CoinGecko, citing data from DefiLlama, the figures “potentially point to DeFi as the new high growth area for the crypto industry.” The report says the decrease in funding toward CeFi could point to the sector “reaching a degree of saturation.”