Author: Yogita Khatri
Translation: Vernacular Blockchain
According to (The Block Pro)'s funding dashboard, crypto venture capital financing in 2024 grew by 28% year-on-year, reaching approximately $13.7 billion. Although significant progress has been made compared to 2023, this wave of growth has not yet returned to previous peaks, even though market sentiment this year is very bullish.
Looking ahead to 2025, top crypto venture capitalists maintain a cautiously optimistic attitude. Although most believe financing levels are unlikely to recover to the peaks of 2021-2022, there is a clear consensus: startups with strong product-market fit and visible user adoption are most likely to attract capital in the coming year.
Here are the 2025 financing 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, told (The Block) that significant growth in crypto venture capital financing is expected in 2025, driven by factors including the easing of the U.S. regulatory environment, potentially ongoing token price increases, and increased institutional capital. However, Hadick believes financing levels will not return to the peaks of 2021-2022 'for a long time,' reflecting venture capital's cautious attitude toward repeating past mistakes.
Dragonfly will continue to focus on supporting founders who excel in proven product-market fit areas, including decentralized finance (DeFi), scaling platforms, centralized finance (CeFi), and stablecoins/payments. Although emerging fields like crypto AI and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) are also on the radar, Hadick believes these are still in the 'experimental' phase.
In contrast, Hadick stated that as the focus shifts to emerging industries, investments in categories like security, tokenization, and interoperability may decline. He also predicts that decentralized social media will face challenges due to its lack of scalability and product-market fit.
2. Pantera: Optimistic about crypto-AI, DePIN, and new Layer 1 blockchains
Lauren Stephanian, a general partner at Pantera Capital, told (The Block) that due to investors' willingness to deploy capital to the U.S. government that supports crypto, crypto venture capital financing is expected to grow in 2025.
However, Stephanian noted, 'The bull market will not last forever,' so it remains to be seen 'when investment deployment will begin to slow down over the next year.'
Pantera will continue to make extensive investments in the crypto and blockchain space, particularly favoring 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, Solana's on-chain key metrics have outperformed Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystem. 'We expect this trend to continue, with applications and protocols on Solana becoming the big winners in the next cycle as more users, capital, issuance, and activity migrate to the Solana ecosystem,' said Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Mult1C0in Capital, to (The Block).
Samani believes Ethereum will continue to face challenges, potentially falling 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 described stablecoins as 'one of the greatest technological and financial innovations of our lifetime.'
'Stablecoins have a chance to become an undeniable force in 2025,' Samani stated. 'The whole world wants dollars, and stablecoins are the most efficient way to get dollars. Their design space is extremely broad, and we are still at a relatively early stage on the adoption curve.'
4. Coinbase Ventures: Focusing on on-chain economy
Hoolie Tejwani, head of Coinbase Ventures, told (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 crypto-friendly Trump administration and the pro-crypto Congress taking office in January 2025.
Tejwani stated that Coinbase Ventures will continue to make extensive investments around on-chain economy, guided by where the 'best and most talented builders are spending the most time and energy.' The company is optimistic about the application layer, believing that as infrastructure matures, applications with internet scale 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 applications), 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, its investment director Alex Odagiu told (The Block).
BN Labs expects crypto venture capital funding to maintain strong momentum in 2025, but will still 'focus on fundamentals' rather than price fluctuations or market hype. Odagiu emphasized that projects with practical application scenarios, product-market fit, excellent teams, and sustainable revenue models will be most likely to succeed.
6. Galaxy Ventures: Optimistic about stablecoins and tokenization
Galaxy Ventures holds an optimistic view on the growth potential of stablecoins and tokenization in 2025. The firm's partner Will Nuelle told (The Block) that stablecoins, especially in the payment space, demonstrate strong product-market fit and remain a key area for capital deployment.
Despite the adoption of tokenization lagging behind stablecoins, Nuelle believes it has immense potential for investors. Galaxy Ventures plans to further explore these opportunities. However, Nuelle is more pessimistic about metaverse-related projects, predicting that financing in this area will lag in 2025 due to a lack of clear adoption signs.
7. Hashed: Cautiously optimistic about 2025
Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and managing partner of Hashed, holds a cautiously optimistic view of 2025. He stated that while Trump's comments about making Bitcoin a financial asset of the U.S. suggest a potential shift in institutional sentiment, financing levels are unlikely to return to the peaks of 2021-2022. Kim added that if a macro or political 'black swan' event occurs, this situation could change significantly.
Kim noted that key drivers for 2025 may include clarity in the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional activity in Asian markets, and infrastructure advancements 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-grade DeFi applications, regulated stablecoin payment systems, and crypto and AI infrastructure. Kim believes these areas have clear product-market fit, compliance pathways, and reliable revenue potential. In contrast, he expects financing for GameFi projects lacking sustainable business models, undifferentiated Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, consumer-level 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 vehicle in Abu Dhabi to enable direct token investments under the region's regulatory framework. He stated that this strategic expansion aims to address the issue of existing Korean domestic funds being unable to conduct direct token investments due to local regulatory restrictions, but did not disclose the target fund size.
8. Hack VC: Betting on crypto and AI, infrastructure, and DeFi
Hack VC co-founder and managing partner Ed Roman 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 crypto-friendly government policies and the rekindled enthusiasm of Web3 entrepreneurs.
Hack VC primarily focuses on three areas: crypto and AI, 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 that are below traditional Web2 clouds. 'This is a trillion-dollar market serving Web2 customers,' 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 tech stack and improve the user experience of decentralized applications (dApps).
In the DeFi space, Hack VC sees the current moment as a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity to streamline the financial system.' Roman views stablecoin-based payments as the foundation of this system, possessing broad real-world application potential and representing 'a trillion-dollar market.' However, he is less optimistic about NFTs, predicting that most NFTs will depreciate, with only top-tier assets able to maintain their value.
9. Portal Ventures: Supporting integrated platforms
Evan Fisher, founder and managing partner of Portal Ventures, expects the 'animal spirits' of the market to return in 2025, but financing levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, as the macroeconomic environment in those two years was unique.
Fisher told (The Block) that Portal Ventures is optimistic about platforms that offer both infrastructure and applications, as these platforms can control user experience and build practical scenarios. However, he predicts that investments 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 financing levels to rise in 2025 as the market remains strong. However, she believes that financing levels will not return to the peaks seen in 2021-2022, as that boom was influenced by broader macroeconomic trends.
Blockchain Capital will continue to maintain opportunistic investments, focusing on stablecoin infrastructure, innovative distribution models, and DeFi platforms that connect institutions and retail users.
