Crypto projects attract $2.27 billion in early 2025 despite market volatility

Crypto projects have attracted more than $2 billion in investments from venture capital (VC) firms in 2025, confirming that investors’ interest in crypto remains high. According to data from Defillama, VCs invested more than $1 billion each into crypto projects within the first two months.

These investments continue a trend that started late last year after President Donald Trump’s election. Before Trump’s win, VC interest in the crypto industry had plateaued due to regulatory uncertainties and hostile administration.

This led to investors reducing their exposure to crypto projects, as evidenced by the reduction in the number of funding rounds and monthly investment volume within that period. However, the monthly sum has increased since hitting a low of $483.3 million in June 2024.

The resurgence in crypto deals corresponds with Trump’s decision to make crypto one of the main agenda of his presidential campaign. That trend continued after his victory, with monthly volume peaking at $1.579 billion in December 2024, marketing the height of the expectations after a $769 million November.

WLFI, Figure, and Phantom account for 2025’s biggest crypto investments

So far, crypto projects have attracted $2.278 billion in the first two months. Leading the chart is the Trump-affiliated decentralized finance project World Liberty Financial (WLFI). In January, the project raised $310 million in public token sales to accredited investors.

Blockchain-based lender Figure also raised $200 million in February through a partnership with private equity firm Sixth Street. The funds are meant to improve the protocol’s private credit lending and loan origination capabilities.

Beyond these two, Solana wallet Phantom raised $150 million in its Series C round led by Sequoia Capital. Ethena Labs also raised $116 million in two private and strategic funding rounds that attracted investments from Franklin Templeton, Pantera Capital, MEXC Venture, Polychain Capital, and other major VC firms. Together, the four projects account for more than 30% of the total fundraising this year.

Meanwhile, several other projects have also attracted investments. PayPal-backed gift card firm Raise raised $63 million in a strategic investment led by Huan Ventures to fund its crypto expansion. Digital assets firm and Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Bitwise also got $70 million, while blockchain security company Blockaid secured $50 million in its Series B fundraising.

Other notable funding rounds include Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Hashkey, which raised $30 million at a valuation of $1 billion, and Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards, with the same amount in its post-seed round. Cipher Mining and VOOX both raised $50 million each, Sygnum crypto bank got $58 million, while OG Labs raised $32.24 million in its public node sale.

Capital inflow may decline in March as the crypto market struggles

Despite significant volume raised by crypto projects, capital investments will likely fall in March, given the recent poor performance of most cryptocurrencies. The signs are already there, with total investment for March currently at $166 million. At the current rate, this month’s total amount raised in funding rounds could be below $500 million.

This decline in VC interest mirrors a massive drop in the value of crypto assets. Over the last 30 days, the cryptocurrency market cap has fallen 17% from $3.28 trillion to $2.64 trillion. Bitcoin is down 13.38% year to date (YTD), Ethereum lost 43% of its value within that period and is now below $2,000, while Solana and XRP have declined by 36% and 8%, respectively.

However, the drop in value results from heightened economic uncertainties due to Trump’s tariffs against several countries and concerns that the US economy could face a recession. It is not just the crypto sector that is facing declines with stock markets also plunging as Nasdaq recorded its worst day in five years.

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