A new report on venture investments in crypto has revealed some interesting trends. The market is experiencing serious consolidation: there are fewer projects, but the amounts they receive are growing.
Most of the funds are now going into DeFi, AI, and blockchain infrastructure. Meanwhile, areas like RWA, DePIN, NFT, and GameFi are gradually fading into the background. To secure new funding, startups increasingly have to adapt to the interests of major players—otherwise, capital just doesn’t come in anymore.
Analysis of Venture Investments in Crypto
Just a few months ago, there was a real boom in crypto venture. Institutions pumped $10 billion into the sector in the second quarter alone. But since then, interest has noticeably cooled—token sales have come to the fore, pushing out classic investment rounds.
The latest report tries to provide a complete picture and highlight key trends. In September 2025, venture rounds in crypto sharply declined. Compared to August, the number of deals dropped by 25.3%, and compared to September 2024, the decline was 37.4%.
In other words, the number of deals is not just decreasing—the pace of decline is accelerating.
Although the numbers look alarming, they don’t fully reflect the real picture. Yes, there are fewer rounds, but the volumes have grown several times over. Looking at the total amount of capital raised, it jumped by 739.7% year-on-year.
Market Consolidation
In total, this amounts to about $5.1 billion in venture investments in the crypto sector. As major players prepare for IPOs, rounds are getting larger, but the number of deals is shrinking.
Last month, several single rounds exceeded the total investment volume for September 2024.
Crypto venture fundraising over the last month. Source: Wu Blockchain
Against this backdrop, it’s especially important to understand which areas are currently receiving the most attention from investors.
As expected, the largest volume of investments went to CeFi and DeFi—together they took almost half of all venture capital. Next come AI development and first- and second-layer blockchains. Tools and crypto wallets are lagging a bit behind.
See also: India Retains Leadership in the Asia-Pacific Crypto Industry
Despite the hype around stock tokenization, the RWA market in crypto is clearly not a priority for funds. According to the latest report, this segment is seriously lagging in results, and last month its share was only 6.5%—and that’s including DePIN.
Simply put, the crypto venture ecosystem is now controlled by major players like Goldman Sachs, Pantera Capital, and Galaxy Digital. And they have their own, rather narrow interests in the industry.
Such a compressed market creates challenges for small projects, but at the same time opens up quite real opportunities.
