Original author: The Block
Compiled by Odaily Planet Daily ( @OdailyChina )
Translator: CryptoLeo ( @LeoAndCrypto )
According to funding data from The Block Pro, crypto venture capital funding grew 28% year-over-year in 2024 to approximately $13.7 billion, a significant improvement from 2023, which, despite strong momentum this year, was still below previous peaks.
Looking ahead to 2025, top cryptocurrency VCs are cautiously optimistic. While most believe funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, a clear consensus has emerged: startups with strong product-market fit and user adoption are most likely to attract capital in the year ahead.
The following is what leaders of Dragonfly, Pantera, Multicoin, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, Galaxy Ventures and other companies shared with The Block about their 2025 financing prospects.
Dragonfly: Betting on DeFi, CeFi, Stablecoins and other fields
Dragonfly general partner Rob Hadick told The Block that crypto venture capital is expected to grow significantly in 2025, thanks to the relaxation of the US regulatory environment, the possibility of continued appreciation in token prices, and increased institutional capital deployment. However, Hadick believes that financing levels will not reach the highs of 2021-2022 for a long time, reflecting the cautious attitude of venture capital firms towards investing in projects in the new year.
Dragonfly remains focused on backing top founders in areas with high product-market fit, including Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Scaling Platforms, Centralized Finance (CeFi), and Stablecoins/Payments. While newer areas such as Crypto AI and DePIN are gaining traction, the field is currently in the “experimental” stage.
Instead, Hadick said that as the focus shifts to new areas — investments in areas such as security, tokenization and interoperability — are likely to decrease. He also predicted that decentralized social media will face challenges, lacking scalability and product-market fit.
Pantera: Optimistic about encrypted artificial intelligence, DePIN and new application-level Layer 1 blockchain
Lauren Stephanian, general partner at Pantera Capital, told The Block that cryptocurrency venture capital funding is expected to increase in 2025 as investors become more willing to deploy capital in the United States’ crypto-friendly government.
“The bull run can’t last forever,” so it remains to be seen “when we’ll start to see a slowdown in deployment next year.”
Stephanian said Pantera is continuing to invest broadly in the crypto and blockchain space, but is particularly interested in crypto AI, DePIN, and new Layer 1 blockchains that support more application-level functionality.
Multicoin: Continue to be optimistic about the Solana ecosystem
Multicoin Capital is working to expand its investments in DeFi applications, especially in the Solana ecosystem, which has outperformed Ethereum and Layer 2 ecosystems on key on-chain metrics this year. Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital, told The Block: We expect this trend to continue, and as more users, capital, issuance, and activities migrate to the Solana ecosystem, Solana-based applications and protocols will become the big winners of the next cycle.
Samani said Ethereum will continue to be in a “catch-22” and “perhaps even in a long-term decline” as it faces stiff competition from Solana and other faster, cheaper blockchains. “Unless Ethereum can compete, developers, users, and capital will migrate to chains that better meet their needs,” he added.
Additionally, Multicoin is bullish on stablecoins, which Samani described as “probably one of the greatest technological and financial innovations of our lifetime.”
“Stablecoins have the opportunity to be a powerful force in 2025, everyone in the world wants dollars, and stablecoins are by far the most efficient way to get them. The design space is huge, and we are still relatively early in the adoption curve.”
Coinbase Ventures: Focus on the on-chain economy
Hoolie Tejwani, head of Coinbase Ventures, told The Block that the company expects to be “active in 2025 and beyond” and is well positioned to seize market opportunities. The company is optimistic about constructive progress on the U.S. regulatory front, thanks to the pro-crypto Trump administration and Congress taking office in January 2025.
Tejwani said Coinbase Ventures will continue to invest broadly in the on-chain economy, guided by projects where the best and brightest builders are working day and night. The company is bullish on the application layer, where internet-scale applications are finally possible as infrastructure matures. Areas of focus include stablecoin payments and finance, crypto AI, on-chain consumer applications such as social, gaming, and creator applications, and DeFi innovation.
At the same time, Coinbase Ventures isn’t giving up on the infrastructure layer entirely, as there are still unsolved challenges and new opportunities in the tooling space, Tejwani said.
Binance Labs: Prioritizing fundamentals and user adoption
Alex Odagiu, investment director at Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, told The Block that the firm will continue to support Web3, AI, and biotech startups regardless of market cycles.
Binance Labs expects crypto venture capital to show strong momentum in 2025, but will remain focused on fundamentals rather than price action or market hype. Odagiu emphasized that projects with real use cases, product-market fit, strong teams, and sustainable revenue models are most likely to succeed.
Galaxy Ventures: Optimistic about stablecoins and RWA
Galaxy Ventures remains optimistic about the growth potential of stablecoins and tokenization in 2025. Will Nuelle, general partner at the firm, told The Block that stablecoins, especially in the payments space, continue to demonstrate strong product-market fit and remain a key focus area for capital deployment.
Although tokenized RWA still lags behind the adoption of stablecoins, Nuelle believes that tokenized RWA has great potential. Galaxy Ventures plans to further explore these opportunities. In addition, Nuelle is not optimistic about the metaverse field and expects that investment funds in the metaverse field will lag in 2025 due to the lack of clear signs of adoption.
Hashed: Cautious outlook for 2025
Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and managing partner of Hashed, was cautious about the outlook for 2025, saying that while Trump’s comments on Bitcoin as an asset to repay U.S. Treasuries hinted at a potential shift in institutional sentiment, funding levels were unlikely to return to the highs of 2021-2022. The situation could change significantly if a macro or political black swan event emerged.
He noted that 2025 could be influenced by factors such as regulatory clarity in the U.S., increased institutional activity in Asian markets, and infrastructure advancements. Kim warned that risks such as regulatory setbacks, macroeconomic uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions could curb growth.
Hasheds 2025 investment priorities include data infrastructure, institutional-grade DeFi applications, regulated stablecoin payment systems, and crypto AI infrastructure - all areas Kim believes have clear product-market fit, regulatory compliance paths, and proven revenue potential. In contrast, he expects that speculative GameFi projects that lack sustainable economics, undifferentiated Layer 1, Layer 2 protocols, consumer DeFi applications in restricted jurisdictions, and NFT platforms without clear utility or revenue models will see less funding.
Hashed plans to close its third venture fund by the first quarter of 2025 and launch a new investment vehicle in Abu Dhabi designed to facilitate direct token investments under the region’s regulatory framework. “This strategic expansion addresses the limitations faced by our existing South Korean-domiciled venture funds, whose direct token investment capabilities are limited by local Korean regulations,” Kim said, declining to disclose the target fund size.
Hack VC: Betting on crypto AI, infrastructure and DeFi
Hack VC co-founder and managing partner Ed Roman told The Block that barring a black swan event, crypto venture capital funding is expected to “increase substantially” in 2025. Roman cited renewed interest in Web3 from pro-crypto management and founders as a factor in the growth.
Hack VC will focus on three main areas in 2025: crypto AI, infrastructure, and DeFi. Roman pointed out that crypto technology provides a unique opportunity for multi-layer AI stacks at a lower cost than traditional Web2 clouds due to the GPU-based decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). He said: In the Web2 space, this is a trillion-dollar market.
In terms of infrastructure, Hack VC remains optimistic about scalability protocols, modular infrastructure, Web3 security, maximum extractable value (MEV) improvements, and account abstraction technology. Roman said these innovations have greatly promoted the maturity of the web3 stack and improved the user experience of decentralized applications (dApps).
Hack VC sees a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to simplify the financial system in DeFi. Roman believes that stablecoin-based payments are the foundation of the system, and a large number of real-world applications represent a multi-trillion dollar market. However, the company is not optimistic about NFTs, predicting that most NFTs will depreciate and only blue-chip NFTs will maintain their value.
Portal Ventures: Supports integrated platforms that provide infrastructure and applications
Evan Fisher, founder and general partner at Portal Ventures, expects animal spirits to return in 2025, but does not expect funding levels to return to the highs of 2021-2022 because the macroeconomic backdrop in those years was unique.
Fisher told The Block that Portal Ventures favors platforms that provide both infrastructure and applications, allowing projects to control the user experience and build real use cases. He predicts that investment in heavier infrastructure projects such as zero-knowledge development platforms and middleware will slow due to a lack of customers and sustainable business models.
Blockchain Capital: Focuses on multiple areas, including stablecoin infrastructure and DeFi
Kinjal Shah, general partner at Blockchain Capital, expects funding levels to rise in 2025 as the market continues to strengthen. But she doesn’t expect a return to the highs of 2021-2022, when the market was influenced by broader macroeconomic trends.
Blockchain Capital remains opportunistic, focusing on areas such as stablecoin infrastructure, innovative distribution models, and DeFi platforms that connect institutions and retail investors.
