Author: Yogita Khatri, Venture Capital
Translation: Baihua Blockchain
According to data from (The BlockPro)'s funding dashboard, crypto venture capital funding increased by 28% year-on-year in 2024, reaching approximately $13.7 billion. Although significant progress has been made compared to 2023, this wave of growth has not returned to previous peaks, despite the bullish market sentiment this year.
Looking ahead to 2025, top crypto venture capitalists maintain a cautiously optimistic stance. Although most believe that 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.
Here are the 2025 funding outlooks shared by leaders from companies like Dragonfly, Pantera, Mult1C0in, Coinbase Ventures, BN Labs, Galaxy Ventures, and others with (The Block).
1. Dragonfly: Betting on DeFi, CeFi, stablecoins, and other fields
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 loosening of the regulatory environment in the U.S., potentially ongoing increases in token prices, and an influx of 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 verifiable 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 they are currently still in the 'experimental' stage.
Conversely, Hadick stated that as attention 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: Optimistic about 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 supportive of crypto, an increase in crypto venture capital funding is expected in 2025.
However, Stephanian mentioned, 'Bull markets do not last forever,' so it remains to be seen 'when investment deployment will start to slow down in the coming year.'
Pantera will continue to invest broadly 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: Continuously optimistic about the Solana ecosystem
Mult1C0in Capital is currently focused on expanding its investments in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, particularly within the Solana ecosystem. This year, Solana's on-chain key metrics outperformed Ethereum and its Layer 2 ecosystem. 'We expect this trend to continue, with applications and protocols on Solana becoming 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, in an interview with (The Block).
Samani believes that Ethereum will continue to face challenges and may even enter a prolonged decline as it is facing 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 stated. 'The whole world wants dollars, and stablecoins are the most efficient way to obtain them. The design space is extremely broad, and we are still in a relatively early stage of 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 organization expects to be 'very active' in 2025 and beyond, with the capability to seize market opportunities. The company is optimistic about regulatory progress in the U.S., especially due to the pro-crypto Trump administration and a Congress friendly to crypto set to 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 the infrastructure matures, applications capable of scaling to internet levels are finally becoming possible. Areas of focus include stablecoin payments and finance, the intersection of crypto and AI, 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 the venture capital and incubation arm of BN, valued at $10 billion, BN Labs is a 'evergreen' investor. Regardless of changes in market cycles, the company will continue to support Web3, AI, and biotechnology startups, according to investment director Alex Odagiu in an interview with (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 real use cases, product-market fit, excellent teams, and sustainable revenue models are most likely to succeed.
6. Galaxy Ventures: Optimistic about 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, especially in the payments 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 great potential for investors. Galaxy Ventures plans to further explore these opportunities. However, Nuelle is more pessimistic about projects related to the metaverse, predicting that due to a lack of clear signs of adoption, funding in that area will lag in 2025.
7. Hashed: Cautiously optimistic about 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 considering Bitcoin as a U.S. Treasury asset 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 infrastructure advancements supporting real-world applications. However, he also warned that regulatory setbacks, macroeconomic uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions could dampen 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 funding for GameFi projects lacking sustainable economic 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 the fundraising for its third venture fund in the first quarter of 2025 and launch a new investment tool in Abu Dhabi for direct token investments within the region's regulatory framework. He stated that this strategic expansion aims to address the issue of existing domestic Korean funds being unable to make direct token investments due to local regulatory constraints, but did not disclose the target fund size.
8. HackVC: Betting on Crypto and AI, 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 a reignited enthusiasm among Web3 entrepreneurs.
HackVC mainly focuses on three areas: crypto and AI, infrastructure, and DeFi. Roman mentioned that the decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs) based on GPUs provide unique opportunities in the crypto space, offering lower costs than traditional Web2 cloud services. '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, maximally extractable value (MEV) improvements, and account abstraction technologies. These innovations significantly enhance the Web3 tech stack and improve the user experience of decentralized applications (dApps).
In the DeFi sector, HackVC believes that now is a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity to streamline financial systems.' Roman views stablecoin-based payments as the foundation of this system, with broad real-world application potential, representing 'a trillion-dollar market.' However, he is not optimistic about NFTs, predicting that most NFTs will depreciate, with only top-tier assets maintaining their value.
9. Portal Ventures: Supporting integrated platforms
Evan Fisher, founder and managing partner of Portal Ventures, expects that the market's 'animal spirits' will return in 2025, but funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, as the macroeconomic environment during those two years was unique.
Fisher told (The Block) that Portal Ventures is optimistic about platforms that provide both infrastructure and applications, as these platforms can control user experience 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. BlockchainCapital: Focusing on multiple areas, including stablecoin infrastructure and DeFi
Kinjal Shah, a partner at Blockchain Capital, expects that as the market remains strong, funding levels will rise in 2025. However, she believes that the scale of funding will not return to the heights of 2021-2022, as the boom at that time was influenced by broader macroeconomic trends.
Blockchain Capital will continue to take an opportunistic investment approach, focusing on stablecoin infrastructure, innovative distribution models, and DeFi platforms connecting institutional and retail users.
