Where Will Crypto VC Money Flow in 2025? Analyzing 6,700+ Funding Rounds

2026.01.08

Where Will Crypto VC Money Flow in 2025? Analyzing 6,700+ Funding Rounds

Prediction markets and RWA lead the way, NFTs cool down, stablecoins rise, and the industry bids farewell to reckless growth.

2026.01.08 - 07:13:07

Web3 심층 보도에 집중하고 흐름을 통찰

Prediction markets and RWA lead the way, NFTs cool down, stablecoins rise, and the industry bids farewell to reckless growth.

Written by: Dudu Bitcoin

Compiled by: Saoirse, Foresight News

In 2025, the rebound in cryptocurrency funding has momentum comparable to the peak performance of Dennis Rodman (the former American professional basketball player known for his explosive power and stable competitive form).

The total funding for the year reached $25 billion, making it the second-highest year on record, second only to the frenzy of 2021.

But there's a key difference this year:

The current funding heat is actually more sustainable.

To figure out where the money is flowing, I spent weeks analyzing 6,723 funding rounds.

Winning Sectors: Prediction Markets, AI Storage, and RWA

It's no surprise that prediction markets emerged as the biggest winners.

For prediction markets, 2025 was a bountiful year — it's the only sector within Web3 that has successfully attracted a mainstream consumer audience.

Platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi are locked in fierce competition, both vying aggressively for more top-tier partnerships.

Today, prediction markets are integrated into Google Search and major mainstream media outlets, further embedding themselves into mass-market scenarios.

The fact that Real World Assets (RWA) and cybersecurity have climbed to the top of the funding charts reinforces a core thesis: cryptocurrency is gradually maturing and becoming more firmly established as a significant component of the financial system.

However, for entrepreneurs focused on NFT development, this year hasn't been favorable.

Seed Funding is Maturing

The era of launching projects with small seed rounds is long gone. In the age of AI, the resources required to develop a product that people actually use have significantly decreased. This means entrepreneurs can "bootstrap" (operate on their own funds) for much longer, only needing to enter the funding market for support when they have something truly substantial to show.

Advice: Strive to Partner with Coinbase Ventures

I've seen too many so-called "VC connectors" — people who help entrepreneurs connect with investors but take a commission. More importantly, most of these connectors only know third-tier investors, making the time investment for entrepreneurs simply not worth it. So, aim to find someone who can connect you with top-tier institutions like Coinbase Ventures, not niche funds like the "Soulja Boy Fund" (Note: Soulja Boy is an American rapper; his namesake fund is relatively small with limited investment influence).

Cryptocurrency is Gradually Maturing

Looking at the projects with the largest funding rounds this year, the trend is quite evident.

Of course, the crypto space still retains some of its "speculative vitality" (Note: referring to the unique high-risk, high-speculation trends inherent to crypto):

Binance: Secured massive funding from the UAE to build a top-tier altcoin trading platform;
Pump.fun: Set records for the number of Meme coins launched per second;
TON: Gained significant attention by leveraging Telegram's widespread adoption in crypto;
Monad: Its L1 blockchain amassed huge community popularity, but the subsequent TGE performance was disappointing.

Every industry cycle needs some "excitement elements," but if you step back from the short-term view, you can clearly see the maturing trend in crypto.

Among the projects with the largest funding this year, two are from the prediction market sector — Polymarket and Kalshi.

As mentioned earlier, 2025 was a bountiful year for prediction markets; it's the only sector within Web3 that has truly attracted a mainstream consumer audience. Polymarket and Kalshi are still fiercely competing, aggressively pursuing more top-tier partnerships, and their services are now integrated into Google Search and major mainstream media.

The stablecoin sector also performed exceptionally well in 2025:

Bullish: Co-founded by Brendan Blumer, previously controversial for the EOS project, raised $1 billion in its IPO;
Ripple: Successfully attracted Wall Street capital to position itself in the stablecoin space;
Circle: Raised $1 billion through its IPO, after which its stock price saw a significant surge;
Payment giant Stripe: Its launched L1 blockchain "Tempo" demonstrates that fintech companies are also actively entering the crypto space;
Figure: Completed a billion-dollar-level IPO, also focused on stablecoin-related business.

Finally, cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken and Gemini also completed funding rounds, likely their final rounds before their IPOs.

The total funding for the aforementioned 4 "speculative" projects is approximately $3.27 billion;

The total funding for the prediction market sector reached $3 billion;

And the total funding for projects in more mature-oriented sectors within Web3 reached $3.4 billion.

Cryptocurrency today is no longer confined to a single attribute.

It is splitting into three parallel tracks of development: