Original Title: Claude and I Analyzed 6,723 Crypto Funding Rounds. This is What VCs Are Funding
Original Author: @dudu_bitcoin, Lombard Ambassador
Original Translation: Saoirse, Foresight News
In 2025, the rebound momentum of cryptocurrency financing is comparable to the peak period of Dennis Rodman (a former professional basketball player in the U.S., known for his explosiveness and stable competitive state).
The total financing for the year reached $25 billion, marking the second highest year on record, only behind the frenzy of 2021.
However, there is a key difference this year: the current financing enthusiasm is actually more sustainable. To understand where the funds are flowing, I spent weeks analyzing 6,723 rounds of financing.
Winning Fields: Prediction Markets, AI Storage, and RWA
Prediction markets have emerged as the biggest winners, which is not surprising.
For prediction markets, 2025 is a bumper year—it is the only track in the Web3 space that has successfully attracted mainstream consumer groups. Two platforms, Polymarket and Kalshi, are in fierce competition, both striving to secure more top-tier partners. Today, prediction markets have been integrated into Google Search and major mainstream media outlets, further embedding themselves into public scenarios.
The rise of real-world assets (RWA) and cybersecurity in the financing hot spots also confirms a core viewpoint: cryptocurrency is gradually maturing and becoming an important part of the financial system, with its foundation becoming increasingly solid.
However, the situation is not optimistic for entrepreneurs focused on NFT development this year.
Seed Round Financing is Maturing
The era where projects could be launched with small seed funding is long gone. In the AI era, the resources required to develop a usable product have significantly decreased. This means that entrepreneurs can "self-sustain" for a longer time (operating with their own funds) and only need to enter the financing market for support when they have tangible results to show.
Advice: Try to Establish Cooperation with Coinbase Ventures
I have seen too many so-called "VC matchmakers"—they help entrepreneurs connect with investors but take a commission from it. More importantly, these matchmakers mostly only know third-tier investors, making the time cost for entrepreneurs not worth it. Therefore, look for people who can help you connect with top institutions like Coinbase Ventures, rather than niche institutions like the "Soulja Boy Fund" (note: Soulja Boy is an American rapper, and his fund is small in scale and has limited investment influence).
Cryptocurrency is Gradually Maturing
Looking at the largest financing projects this year, the trends are quite clear.
Of course, the crypto space still retains some "speculative vitality" (referring to the high-risk, high-speculation trends unique to the crypto field):
· Binance: Secured massive funding from the UAE to build a top altcoin trading platform;
· Pump.fun: Set a record for the number of Meme coins issued per second;
· TON: Gained significant attention thanks to Telegram's widespread popularity in the crypto space;
· Monad: Its L1 public chain has accumulated a lot of popularity in the community, but the subsequent TGE performance was disappointing.
Every industry cycle needs some "stimulating elements," but if you step out of a short-term perspective, you will clearly see the trend of maturity in the crypto space.
Among the largest financing projects this year, two are from prediction markets—Polymarket and Kalshi.
As mentioned earlier, 2025 is a bumper year for prediction markets, which is the only track in the Web3 space that truly attracts mainstream consumer groups. Polymarket and Kalshi are still in fierce competition, striving for more top-tier partners, and their services have now been integrated into Google Search and major mainstream media.
The stablecoin sector also performed well in 2025:
· Bullish: Co-founded by Brendan Blumer, who was controversial due to the EOS project, raised $1 billion in its IPO;
· Ripple: Successfully attracted Wall Street funds, laying out plans in the stablecoin sector;
· Circle: Raised $1 billion through an IPO, after which its stock price saw a significant increase;
· Payment giant Stripe: Launched the L1 public chain "Tempo," proving that fintech companies are also actively entering the crypto space;
· Figure: Completed a $1 billion-level IPO, also focusing on stablecoin-related business.
Finally, cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Gemini also completed financing, likely marking their last round of financing before an IPO.
The total financing amount for the four "speculative" projects mentioned above is approximately $3.27 billion; the total financing amount for the prediction market sector reached $3 billion; while projects in the Web3 sector leaning towards mature tracks totaled $3.4 billion.
Today's cryptocurrency is no longer limited to a single attribute. It is splitting into three parallel tracks:
· Speculation and culture track (such as Meme coins, niche public chains);
· Information and truth market track (centered on prediction markets);
· Real economy financial infrastructure track (such as stablecoins, RWA).
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
