Venture capitalists in the crypto sector report that despite a $2 trillion industry wipeout, startup funding continues, albeit at reduced levels. This week, crypto firms secured $18.5 million, the lowest since the New Year break. Investors maintain that blockchain fundamentals remain strong.
The cryptocurrency market has endured a severe downturn, losing $2 trillion in value and severely impacting sentiment. Bitcoin has declined 47% from its October peak, while Ethereum trades at a 60% discount and Solana at 73%. According to DefiLlama data, this week's fundraising totaled just $18.5 million for crypto startups, marking the leanest period in over two years and the worst since the holiday break at the start of the year.
Despite these challenges, venture capitalists express optimism about the sector's underlying strengths. Charlie Sandor, a partner at CMT Digital, stated, “The fundamentals of blockchain companies have actually strengthened.” He added, “What we’ve seen change is how future token outcomes are being valued, which has brought valuations down for projects with token outcomes where expectations were previously priced much higher.” Sandor anticipates that deal terms will remain cautious, directing funds toward initiatives demonstrating “real usage and revenue.”
Among the notable raises this week were three key deals. Bullshot, an AI-powered meme token launchpad on the BNB Chain, secured $7.5 million in a private round backed by Animoca Brands and Genesis Capital. The platform enables one-click token creation with anti-bot protections and has supported over 70,000 token launches.
Levl, a Swiss-based stablecoin infrastructure provider originating from Galaxy Digital, raised $7 million in a seed round led by Galaxy Ventures. It connects traditional banking systems with blockchain for instant global payments using fiat and stablecoins like USDC, achieving over $1 billion in annualized transaction volume within four months, with regulatory approvals in Switzerland and Canada.
Birch Hill Holdings, based in New York and founded by former professionals from Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, obtained $2.5 million in a pre-seed round co-led by ParaFi Capital and Castle Island Ventures. The firm develops infrastructure for on-chain lending and real-world asset tokenization, including a collateral risk framework for decentralized credit markets.
