Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and recent signs of stagnation in venture capital funding within the crypto industry, certain sectors are demonstrating resilience and attracting significant investment. June saw notable funding deals in decentralized finance (DeFi), trading platforms, pre-seed growth funds, and projects that converge digital assets with artificial intelligence (AI). This suggests that while the overall market may be experiencing volatility, strategic investments are still being made in promising areas.
Blockchain infrastructure remains a key focus for investors. Areas like AI, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), tokenization, payments, and real-world assets (RWAs) are particularly appealing. This indicates a shift towards building a sustainable financial infrastructure with clear user value, compliance, and integration with traditional systems.
Several companies have recently secured substantial funding rounds. Rails, a cryptocurrency exchange building a trading platform that combines centralized and decentralized exchange features, has revealed $20 million in venture funding across two rounds. Rails aims to provide professional traders with the speed of a centralized exchange (CEX) while maintaining custody through decentralized markets. Other companies that have recently received funding include Yupp, Beam, Frachtis, Interface Labs, Gradient Network, Story, Blueprint Finance and Units Network.
The convergence of AI and blockchain is another trend capturing investor attention. Startups are integrating AI to enhance decentralized systems through improved security, predictive analytics, intelligent agents, and automated code review. The synergy between blockchain and AI can create smarter and more resilient applications, making them more attractive for real-world use cases by bringing reliability, personalization, and enhanced performance to decentralized applications.
DeFi protocols with institutional applications are also garnering renewed interest. Investments are being directed towards lending, staking, insurance, and permissioned DeFi tools, rather than focusing on volatile yield farming. This indicates a move towards more stable and regulated DeFi solutions that can bridge the gap between traditional finance and the decentralized world.
The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) continues to gain traction, with firms pushing for clear regulations for on-chain financial instruments. Mercado Bitcoin, for example, announced the tokenization of $200 million in RWAs on the XRP Ledger (XRPL). While tokenized assets track prices, it is important to note that they may not always provide investors with the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.
Looking ahead, deeper integration of institutions, improved user experience, and RWA tokenization are expected to drive VC trends. Early-stage portfolio growth may slow in quantity but improve in quality, particularly among projects aligned with infrastructure, compliance, and hybrid AI-Web3 applications. If macroeconomic conditions are favorable, 2025 could mark a turning point for Web3, as it evolves from experimentation to sustainable platforms.
In the first quarter of 2025, blockchain and crypto startups collectively raised $4.8 billion, marking the strongest quarter since late 2022. This figure represents 60% of the total VC capital invested in 2024. During this period, Binance received a $2 billion investment from MGX, an AI and technology investment firm in the UAE, which set a record for the largest single deal in VC history.
While AI is currently a dominant sector for venture funding, with $59.6 billion invested globally in Q1 2025, blockchain is not being ignored. Instead, venture capitalists are adopting a more strategic approach, focusing on foundational blockchain technologies and real-world use cases. This includes blockchain cybersecurity for supply chain security and industrial IoT, as well as the tokenization of real-world assets such as real estate and commodities.
