August 2025 brought notable shifts in crypto venture capital, according to RootData. The month recorded 81 publicly disclosed funding rounds, up 6.6% from July but down 29.6% year-on-year.
Total financing reached $4.87 billion, a 9.2% decline from July, yet a staggering 546.6% increase compared with August 2024. Investments spanned DeFi (24.7%), AI (23.5%), CeFi (14.8%), Layer 1/Layer 2 networks (11.1%), RWA/DePIN projects (9.9%), NFT/GameFi (6.2%), and wallets/tools (3.7%).
Major deals spotlight stablecoins and AI infrastructure
Galaxy Digital led the month with $1.4 billion in debt financing for its Helios AI data centre in Texas, boosting high-performance computing and AI infrastructure. Bullish (NYSE: BLSH) completed a $1.15 billion IPO entirely settled in stablecoins—including USDCV, EURCV, USDG, and RLUSD—marking the first U.S. IPO conducted in digital dollars. Peter Thiel’s investment team acquired a 7.5% stake in Ethereum treasury platform ETHZilla, reinforcing its strategic exposure to ETH treasury management.
Other notable deals included SharpLink Gaming raising $400 million to grow its ETH treasury above $3 billion, Heritage Distilling securing $220 million in cash and IP tokens, and London-based Satsuma Technology raising $218 million via convertible bonds, partially settled in Bitcoin. Ripple announced plans to acquire Rail, a stablecoin payments platform, for $200 million to expand its cross-border payment solutions.
AI and DeFi lead sector growth
DeFi Development Corp. raised $125 million to bolster its Solana treasury, while IVIX secured $60 million for AI-powered risk management solutions in crypto networks. Visa-backed Rain closed a $58 million Series B, increasing its valuation nearly sixfold to $2.45 billion, with annual card transaction volume surpassing $1 billion.
Notably, Galaxy Digital’s venture arm, led by Mike Novogratz, exceeded its fundraising goal for its latest fund, showing renewed institutional confidence in blockchain and crypto startups despite ongoing market volatility.
Deal activity fell sharply in mid-2026
By June 2026, the number of crypto funding rounds had fallen to one of its lowest levels in years. CryptoRank data cited in industry reporting showed just 61 funding rounds in June, down from 89 in May and representing a 31.5% monthly decline. The June figure was also reportedly the lowest monthly total since November 2020.
The decline suggests that the industry’s funding environment is not simply a matter of investors becoming more optimistic or pessimistic about crypto prices.
Investors are becoming more selective about which businesses deserve capital. A strong crypto market does not automatically mean easy access to venture capital. Founders increasingly need to demonstrate product-market fit, revenue, institutional demand or a clear role in the infrastructure supporting the next phase of digital-asset adoption.
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