The landscape of cryptocurrency venture capital underwent a dramatic transformation in 2025, with funding increasing a staggering 433.2% to reach $49.75 billion, up from just $9.33 billion the previous year. This surge in capital was highlighted by data from RootData, which also reported that December concluded with 58 disclosed investment projects, representing a slight increase of 3.6% from 56 in November.
Interestingly, monthly funding trends shifted in the opposite direction. For December, disclosed capital fell to $860 million, marking a significant decrease of 94.1% from a robust $14.54 billion in November. This decline in monthly funding reflects a broader trend where deal activity has contracted, yet the size of individual investments has escalated.
Throughout 2025, there were a total of 898 disclosed investment projects, representing a 42.1% decline from 1,551 projects in 2024. This suggests that fewer deals are being made, but those that are occurring involve significantly larger financial commitments. Among the various sectors, decentralized finance (DeFi) captured the largest share of crypto VC projects at 22.4%, followed by centralized finance (CeFi) at 13.8% and artificial intelligence (AI) at 12.7%. Other sectors included real-world assets (RWA) and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) at 7.3%, while Layer 1 and Layer 2 projects accounted for 6%. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and GameFi, along with tools and wallets, each represented 5.3% and 5%, respectively.
One of the most notable transactions of the year occurred in November, when Naver announced its acquisition of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $10.3 billion. This acquisition propelled Naver”s value to 4.9 trillion won and Dunamu”s to 15.1 trillion won. Prior reports indicated that Dunamu achieved a consolidated operating income of 1.19 trillion won for the first three quarters of 2025, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 22%, with nearly all revenue linked to trading platforms like Upbit.
Additionally, several high-profile financing rounds significantly bolstered corporate balance sheets in the crypto space. In July, Strategy raised $2.52 billion through its fourth preferred stock product, Stretch, using the proceeds to acquire 21,021 BTC at an average price of $117,256, raising its total holdings to 628,791 BTC, valued at $74 billion. Earlier in February, the same firm issued $2 billion in zero-coupon notes due in 2030, featuring a 40% to 50% conversion premium.
Other major investments included Intercontinental Exchange”s $2 billion stake in Polymarket, which granted it global distribution rights for the platform”s event-driven data. Abu Dhabi MGX invested $2 billion in Binance for a minority stake, exclusively using stablecoins for the transaction. Furthermore, Forward Industries executed a $1.65 billion private placement to fund a Solana-based digital asset vault strategy, with contributions from Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital.
In a strategic move to expand its offerings, Kraken acquired NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, securing a license to provide futures and derivatives in the United States while extending its reach into the U.K., EU, and Australia. Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital closed $1.4 billion in debt financing to support the Helios AI data center project in Texas, under a long-term agreement with CoreWeave.
As the crypto landscape evolves, the concentration of capital in fewer but larger deals indicates a shift in investor strategy, likely driven by a pursuit of substantial returns in a competitive market.
