Author: Memento Research

Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Deep Tide Introduction: The crypto financing data for the first four months of 2026 reveals a harsh reality: funding for the gaming and DePIN sectors is nearly exhausted, while the prediction market companies Kalshi and Polymarket have received more money than all DeFi projects combined for the year. More concerning is that the number of acquisition deals has almost matched seed rounds, indicating that capital is shifting from betting on new ideas to acquiring existing leaders.

Financing Overview: March Surge was a Mirage

From January 1 to May 6, 2026, the crypto industry completed a total of 305 financing deals, amounting to $8.65 billion. However, the $4.57 billion "surge" in March was actually just two massive acquisitions: $1.8 billion for BVNK and $1 billion for Kalshi.

Excluding these two, the real financing rate is about $1 billion per month, weaker than at the end of 2025.

Fund Flow: Payments and Consumption Consume 72%

By sector:

Payments: $3.74 billion (56 deals)

Consumption: $2.48 billion (35 deals)

DeFi: $1.06 billion (47 deals, most transactions)

The sum of payments and consumption sectors accounts for 72% of the annual funding. Financing for gaming and DePIN has nearly disappeared.

Prediction Markets Dominate Consumption Sector

The two prediction market companies received 18% of the annual financing:

Kalshi: $1 billion

Polymarket: $600 million

These two amounts total $1.6 billion, surpassing the total of all 47 DeFi financing deals.

Mergers and Acquisitions Become Mainstream

The number of M&A deals reached 48 (23% of known stage deals), nearly matching the 57 seed rounds (27%). This cycle has shifted from the early stages of investing in new ideas to acquiring industry leaders.

Investment Institution Rankings Reshuffled

Most Active Funds of 2026:

Coinbase Ventures: 18 deals (ranked second from 2021-26)

Tether: 13 deals (new leading investor)

Animoca Brands: 11 deals (ranked first from 2021-26)

GSR: 11 deals

a16z: 7 deals (a significant drop compared to approximately 200 deals from 2021-26)

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