Author: Yogita Khatri, Venture Capital
Translated by: Blockchain in Plain Language
According to data from (The BlockPro) funding dashboard, crypto venture capital funding in 2024 grew by 28% year-over-year, reaching approximately $13.7 billion. Although there has been significant progress compared to 2023, this wave of growth has not yet returned to previous peaks, despite a very bullish market sentiment this year.
Looking ahead to 2025, top crypto venture capitalists maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook. While most believe funding levels are unlikely to return to the highs of 2021-2022, there is a clear consensus that startups with strong product-market fit and visible user adoption are most likely to attract capital in the coming year.
Below are the 2025 funding outlooks shared by leaders from companies such as Dragonfly, Pantera, Mult1C0in, Coinbase Ventures, BN Labs, and Galaxy Ventures with (The Block).
1. Dragonfly: Betting on DeFi, CeFi, stablecoins, and more
Rob Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly, stated in an interview with (The Block) that significant growth in crypto venture capital funding is expected in 2025, driven by factors including a relaxing regulatory environment in the U.S., potentially sustained increases in token prices, and increased institutional capital. However, Hadick believes that funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022 for a "long time," reflecting venture capital's cautious attitude towards repeating past mistakes.
Dragonfly will continue to focus on supporting founders who excel in areas with proven product-market fit, including decentralized finance (DeFi), scaling platforms, centralized finance (CeFi), and stablecoins/payments. Although emerging areas like crypto-AI and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) are also on the radar, Hadick believes these are still in the "experimental" stage.
Conversely, Hadick stated that as the focus shifts to emerging industries, investments in categories such as security, tokenization, and interoperability may decline. He also predicts that decentralized social media will face challenges due to a lack of scalability and product-market fit.
2. Pantera: Bullish on crypto-AI, DePIN, and new Layer 1 blockchains
Lauren Stephanian, a general partner at Pantera Capital, stated in an interview with (The Block) that due to investors being more willing to deploy capital under a U.S. government that supports crypto, crypto venture capital funding is expected to grow in 2025.
However, Stephanian mentioned that "bull markets do not last forever," so it is still necessary to observe "when investment deployment will begin to slow in the coming year."
Pantera will continue to invest broadly in the crypto and blockchain space but is particularly optimistic about crypto-AI, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and new Layer 1 blockchains that support more application-layer functionalities.
3. Mult1C0in: Continues to be optimistic about the Solana ecosystem
Mult1C0in Capital's current focus is on expanding its investments in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, particularly within the Solana ecosystem. This year, key on-chain metrics for Solana have outperformed Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystem. "We expect this trend to continue, and applications and protocols on Solana will become major winners in the next cycle as more users, capital, issuance, and activity migrate to Solana's ecosystem," said Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Mult1C0in Capital, to (The Block).
Samani believes Ethereum will continue to face challenges and may even fall into a prolonged decline as it faces fierce competition from Solana and other faster, cheaper blockchains. "Unless Ethereum can catch up, developers, users, and capital will migrate to other chains that better meet their needs," he added.
Additionally, Mult1C0in is also optimistic about stablecoins. Samani describes stablecoins as "one of the greatest technological and financial innovations of our lifetime."
"Stablecoins have the opportunity to become an undeniable force in 2025," Samani said. "The whole world wants dollars, and stablecoins are the most effective way to obtain dollars. Their design space is extremely broad, and we are still in a relatively early stage on the adoption curve."
4. Coinbase Ventures: Focusing on on-chain economy
Hoolie Tejwani, head of Coinbase Ventures, stated in an interview with (The Block) that the institution is expected to be "very active" in 2025 and beyond, with the ability to seize market opportunities. The company is optimistic about regulatory progress in the U.S., especially due to the pro-crypto Trump administration and the pro-crypto Congress that will take office in January 2025.
Tejwani stated that Coinbase Ventures will continue to invest broadly around the on-chain economy, guided by where "the best and most talented builders are spending the most time and effort." The company is optimistic about the application layer, believing that as infrastructure matures, applications with internet-scale potential are finally becoming possible. Areas of focus include stablecoin payments and finance, the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence, on-chain consumer applications (such as social, gaming, and creator apps), and DeFi innovations.
At the same time, Coinbase Ventures has not completely abandoned investments at the infrastructure layer, as there are still unresolved challenges and new opportunities in the tools space, Tejwani added.
5. BN Labs: Prioritizing fundamentals and user adoption
As a $10 billion venture capital and incubation division under BN, BN Labs is a "evergreen" investor. Regardless of how market cycles change, the company will continue to support Web3, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology startups, according to its investment director Alex Odagiu in an interview with (The Block).
BN Labs expects strong momentum for crypto venture capital funding in 2025 but will still "focus on fundamentals" rather than price volatility or market hype. Odagiu emphasized that projects with real-world applications, product-market fit, excellent teams, and sustainable revenue models are most likely to succeed.
6. Galaxy Ventures: Bullish on stablecoins and tokenization
Galaxy Ventures is optimistic about the growth potential of stablecoins and tokenization in 2025. The company's partner Will Nuelle told (The Block) that stablecoins, particularly in the payment space, demonstrate strong product-market fit and remain a key area for capital deployment.
Although the adoption pace of tokenization still lags behind stablecoins, Nuelle believes it holds significant potential for investors. Galaxy Ventures plans to further explore these opportunities. However, Nuelle holds a more pessimistic view on metaverse-related projects, predicting that funding in this area will lag in 2025 due to a lack of clear adoption signs.
7. Hashed: Holding a cautiously optimistic view for 2025
Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and managing partner of Hashed, holds a cautiously optimistic view for 2025. He stated that while Trump's remarks about making Bitcoin a fiscal asset of the U.S. suggest a potential shift in institutional sentiment, funding levels are unlikely to return to the peaks of 2021-2022. Kim added that if macro or political "black swan" events occur, this situation could change significantly.
Kim pointed out that key drivers in 2025 may include clarity in the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional activity in Asian markets, and advancements in infrastructure supporting real-world applications. However, he also warned that regulatory setbacks, macroeconomic uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions could suppress growth.
Hashed's investment priorities for 2025 include data infrastructure, institutional-level DeFi applications, regulated stablecoin payment systems, and crypto and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Kim believes these areas have clear product-market fit, compliance pathways, and reliable revenue potential. In contrast, he expects funding for GameFi projects lacking sustainable economic models, undifferentiated Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, consumer-grade DeFi applications in restricted regions, and NFT platforms without clear utility or revenue models to decrease.
Hashed plans to complete fundraising for its third venture fund in the first quarter of 2025 and launch a new investment tool in Abu Dhabi to facilitate direct token investments under the region's regulatory framework. He indicated that this strategic expansion aims to address the issues faced by existing Korean local funds that are unable to make direct token investments due to local regulatory restrictions but did not disclose the target fund size.
8. HackVC: Betting on crypto, artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and DeFi
Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner of Hack VC, told (The Block) that unless a black swan event occurs, crypto venture capital funding is expected to "grow significantly" in 2025. Roman attributes this to pro-crypto government policies and the reignited enthusiasm of Web3 entrepreneurs.
HackVC primarily focuses on three areas: crypto and artificial intelligence, infrastructure, and DeFi. Roman mentioned that due to GPU-based decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), the crypto space offers unique opportunities in multi-layer AI stacks below traditional Web2 clouds. "This is a trillion-dollar market serving Web2 clients," he said.
In terms of infrastructure, Hack VC is optimistic about scalability protocols, modular infrastructure, Web3 security, maximum extractable value (MEV) improvements, and account abstraction technology. These innovations significantly enhance the Web3 technology stack and improve user experiences in decentralized applications (dApps).
In the DeFi space, HackVC believes that we are currently experiencing a "rare opportunity to streamline the financial system." Roman views payment based on stablecoins as the foundation of this system, with broad real-world application potential, representing "a trillion-dollar market." However, he is less optimistic about NFTs, predicting that most NFTs will depreciate, and only top-tier assets will maintain value.
9. Portal Ventures: Supporting integrated platforms
Evan Fisher, founder and managing partner of Portal Ventures, expects the market's "animal spirits" to return in 2025, but funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022 due to the unique macroeconomic environment of those two years.
Fisher told (The Block) that Portal Ventures is optimistic about platforms that provide both infrastructure and applications, as these platforms can control user experiences and build practical scenarios. However, he predicts that investment in heavier infrastructure projects (such as zero-knowledge development platforms and middleware) will slow down due to a lack of customers and sustainable business models.
10. Blockchain Capital: Focusing on multiple areas, including stablecoin infrastructure and DeFi
Kinjal Shah, a partner at Blockchain Capital, expects funding levels to rise in 2025 as the market remains strong. However, she believes the scale of funding will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, as the frenzy at that time was influenced by broader macroeconomic trends.
Blockchain Capital will continue to maintain an opportunistic investment strategy, focusing on stablecoin infrastructure, innovative distribution models, and DeFi platforms connecting institutions and retail users.
