Is crypto VC activity on the rise?

Crypto startups raised nearly $175 million in funding last week.

There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:

Bitcoin rebounded from last week’s lows. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s network faces “intense competition,” and crypto ETFs have sustained big outflows.

Crypto VC and M&A deals are on the rise. A closer look at the crypto startups raising fresh funding and the venture firms that are making moves.

The market for tokenized real-world assets just hit all-time highs. And more stats to know from around the cryptoverse.

$94,328.09

$1,802.76

$1.00

$2.28

$149.59

$1.00

See the latest prices

MARKET BYTES

Crypto prices rebound as tariff anxiety cools

Last week, bitcoin fell to 2025 lows below $75,000 as the Trump administration’s tariff rollout roiled markets of all kinds.

This week has seen much smoother sailing so far, with BTC climbing above $86,000 on Tuesday, a rebound that began following last week’s 90-day pause on non-China tariffs and reduction in reciprocal tariff rates. “The worst case scenario is off the table,” one stock market analyst told CNBC. “The problem is we could get a headline at any time and the market goes down 3%.”

Looking back at the peak of recent volatility, though, it’s interesting to note that BTC showed significant resilience compared to most other asset classes. As Andy Baehr, managing director at CoinDesk Indices, told CNBC, “[Even] the traditional safe haven of going to U.S. Treasuries completely didn’t work — and in this very difficult market, bitcoin kind of skated through.”

Here are three more stories you should know about…

BTC and ETH ETFs continued to shed value

In the first half of April, spot bitcoin ETFs lost around $800 million in value — following outflows of $3.56 billion in February and $767 million in March. BTC ETFs began to regain some ground this week, with roughly $78 million in cumulative inflows on Monday and Tuesday.

Ether ETFs, however, haven’t seen a similar rebound. In the seventh straight week of outflows, the asset class shed $82.47 million. Some market watchers had hoped that the SEC would begin to allow ETH ETFs to offer staking, but on Monday the agency pushed the first decision on staking to June.

The ability to offer staking is important because, as BlackRock’s head of digital assets said recently, “A staking yield is a meaningful part of how you can generate investment return in this space.”

I want my XRP… According to crypto research platform Kaiko Indices, a spot XRP ETF could be the next major digital-asset investment product to gain SEC approval, potentially by May 22. “Improving market dynamics and the launch of a leveraged product last week position XRP ahead of other assets when it comes to spot ETF approval by the SEC,” The Block noted.

Could XRP surpass ETH?

For months now, ether has lagged behind other major tokens, with its share of the broader crypto market falling to lows last seen in early 2020. Over the same period, newer tokens have seen rapid rises in their market share, with XRP surging 200% and Solana up 344%.

So what’s been causing ETH to struggle? According to a recent JPMorgan report, Ethereum is facing “intense competition” from rival blockchains. “Rising competition has also driven top decentralized applications to migrate to their own application-specific chains for better performance and lower costs,” The Block noted in February.

New standard… As reported by The Block, Standard Chartered's global head of digital assets research predicts that XRP’s market cap will exceed ETH’s by the end of 2028 due “to a mix of regulatory developments, institutional adoption, and expanding use cases.”

Bhutan is mining BTC to revive its economy

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is aiming to combat economic problems — including high rates of youth unemployment and a “brain drain” exodus of educated professionals to wealthier nations — by making a major bet on sustainable crypto mining using excess hydroelectric capacity.

Bhutan’s BTC holdings are worth around $600 million, according to Arkham Intelligence data, representing around 30% of the nation’s GDP.

“[BTC mining] is just a simple strategic choice that many people have made and earned billions of dollars, and I think governments should do it,” Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay told Al Jazeera. Tobgay added that in the summer his country produces more hydroelectric power than it can use: “That’s where Bitcoin mining makes tremendous sense.”

Bitcoin budgeting… In 2023, Bhutan sold around $100 million of its BTC and has used the capital to double the salaries of civil servants, helping the nation to compete with wealthier neighbors.

VENTURE TIME

Is crypto VC activity picking up steam?

As a more favorable regulatory environment takes hold in the U.S., and crypto adoption continues to grow, venture capital funds are making notable bets across the crypto ecosystem.

There’s been more than $4.92 billion raised by crypto startups in Q1 of 2025, up from $3.63 billion in the preceding quarter, per DefiLlama; while in recent weeks, blockchain startups focused on stablecoins, payments, and even restaurants have earned big funding rounds. This uptick in activity comes after some of the biggest crypto VC firms had banner years in 2024. (That said, crypto VC funding remains far below the fizzy peak of the 2021-2022 bull run.)

Let’s take a look at the latest venture activity in crypto.

Crypto startups raised nearly $175 million last week alone

In the last week, $172 million in venture capital funding flowed into crypto startups, up from around $72 million the week prior, with firms like Amex Ventures, a16z, and Multicoin Capital participating in fundraising rounds.

Felix Pago, a Miami-based startup that facilitates cross-border payments to Latin America, saw the biggest raise, netting $75 million from investors. The firm, which allows users to send money via WhatsApp, has processed nearly $1 billion in transfers. Through a partnership with stablecoin infrastructure firm Zero Hash, users can send USD, which converts to USDC, and is then converted into local currency.
Blackbird Labs, a blockchain-based loyalty and payments platform for restaurants, saw the second largest fundraise, with Amex Ventures, a16z, Coinbase Ventures, and others participating in the $50 million round. Through Blackbird, diners can earn loyalty points from around 500 participating restaurants in the platform’s native token, which can then be used to pay for meals.
Other crypto startups that raised money this week include the gaming startup Ultra ($12 million), stablecoin infrastructure firm CAP Labs ($11 million), and bitcoin DeFi startup Sats Terminal ($1.7 million).

Some of the biggest crypto venture firms had banner years in 2024

Several leading names in crypto venture capital — Electric Capital, Multicoin Capital, Paradigm, and Haun Ventures — saw double-digit percent increases in their assets under management last year, according to new filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Haun Ventures just completed a $1 billion raise, which will be split evenly between early stage and late stage crypto startups, according to Fortune. This follows similarly large fundraises for crypto VC giants in 2024, including Paradigm’s $850 million venture fund, and Pantera Capital’s “Pantera Fund V,” which aims to raise $1 billion.

As Fortune notes, crypto venture firms have a potential advantage over traditional VC because of how quickly their investments can begin to pay off. Where it can take many years for a typical company to either get sold or go public, crypto companies have the potential to unlock liquidity more quickly by selling their own token.

“This dynamic, in part, has allowed crypto venture funds to raise massive rounds, as investors can enjoy more immediate returns,” noted Fortune, “although venture funds also suffer from the downside risks of the volatility.”

Funding for Bitcoin-focused startups is on the rise

According to a recent report from Trammell Venture Partners, investment in Bitcoin-native startups is “a breakout category” with four consecutive years of growth, including $234 million raised in 2024.

Last year saw a nearly 30% increase in the number of BTC startups funded, including investments in Bitfinity (a layer-2 network for bitcoin), SatLayer (a bitcoin staking protocol), and Mezo (a bitcoin DeFi platform).

And the investment shows no signs of slowing down: “Bitcoin-native [firms are] likely to capture a significant percentage of total crypto venture dollars in the coming years,” the report noted.

It’s not just venture capital – mergers and acquisitions are booming

Last quarter, crypto firms tallied 61 M&A deals worth $2.2 billion, a record level of total deal consideration, according to a report from Architect Partners.

This includes the recent $1.5 billion acquisition of futures trading platform NinjaTrader, which is the “largest crypto deal to date,” noted Bloomberg. And just last week, Ripple announced the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road, a prime brokerage.

As Casper Johansen, partner at the digital-assets advisory firm Spartan Group, told Bloomberg, “We’re busier than we’ve ever been on M&A.”

Learn about Coinbase Ventures

NUMBERS TO KNOW

$20 billion

The new all-time high value of the tokenized real-world asset market (RWA), according to data from RWA.xyz. Tokenization refers to the process of creating digital, blockchain based tokens to represent real-world assets like cash, bonds, real estate, and much more. Predominantly issued on Ethereum, BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund (BUIDL) now accounts for nearly $2.5 billion in market cap.

$12.5 billion

Total stablecoin supply issued on the Solana network as of Monday, according to DefiLlama — back near its all-time high watermark set in February. One key reason behind the supply growth? Expanded liquidity, largely led by USDC, which has seen its SOL-powered supply reach nearly $9.5 billion.

3,459 BTC

The amount of bitcoin that Strategy, the world’s largest corporate BTC holder, acquired over the last week, worth roughly $286 million. This brings the firm’s total position to 531,644 BTC. On Sunday, Strategy founder Michael Saylor, referring to the company’s ongoing BTC-acquisition strategy, wrote on X: “No Tariffs on Orange Dots.”