Crypto Venture Funding Declines Amid Market Uncertainty

Venture capital funding in the cryptocurrency sector remained muted in November 2025, continuing a broader slowdown that has persisted through late 2025. Deal activity was concentrated in a small number of large raises by established companies.

According to Galaxy Digital, total funding climbed to four point six five billion dollars in the third quarter, but deal counts lagged, primarily flowing to bigger, more mature firms. In November, RootData reported only fifty-seven disclosed crypto funding rounds, marking one of the weakest tallies of the year.

Headline-grabbing raises included Revolut's one billion dollar round and Kraken's eight hundred million dollar raise ahead of its anticipated initial public offering. The majority of November's deals were in the centralized finance, decentralized finance, and NFTGameFi sectors.

Sarah Austin, co-founder of the real-world-asset gaming platform Titled, noted that investing in tough times is when the best deals are made, indicating longer-term risks for the industry. The latest VC Roundup highlighted three significant funding deals: Ostium, a decentralized perpetuals platform, secured twenty-four million dollars to scale its onchain perpetuals protocol targeting traditional markets.

The funding will help strengthen Ostium's systems, including smart contracts and liquidity engines. Axis raised five million dollars for its onchain yield protocol, which offers exposure to Bitcoin, gold, and the US dollar, with participation from investors like Galaxy Ventures and OKX Ventures.

Lastly, PoobahAI, a Texas-based startup, closed a two million dollar seed round to expand its no-code platform for building tokenized Web3 networks and AI agents, led by FourTwoAlpha. The downturn in crypto venture funding reflects broader market uncertainties, indicating challenges for startups and investors in the cryptocurrency space as confidence continues to wane.