Defying a $2T Crypto Collapse: Investors Inject $258M Into Blockchain Startups

While retail traders panic, the smart money is building.

The Contrarian Bet

Forget the headlines screaming about evaporated wealth. Venture capital firms and institutional backers just signaled where they see the next bull run forming—not in yesterday's blue chips, but in tomorrow's infrastructure. A cool quarter-billion flowed into seed rounds and Series A deals, targeting everything from decentralized finance protocols to novel scaling solutions. It's a classic play: buy when there's blood—or in this case, digital red ink—in the streets.

Building Through the Bear

This isn't dumb money chasing hype. These investments are surgical strikes on teams solving real problems: transaction speed, cross-chain interoperability, and user onboarding. The thesis is simple. Market cycles wipe out weak projects and over-leveraged speculators, but they don't erase fundamental technological promise. The builders who survive the drought will own the landscape when liquidity returns.

A Cynical Nod to Tradition

Of course, watching crypto VCs deploy capital with the disciplined timing of a Swiss watchmaker does invite a smirk—especially when your traditional 60/40 portfolio is getting its teeth kicked in by inflation and rate hikes. Sometimes, the most conservative move is to fund the revolution.

The message is clear. The $2 trillion wipeout wasn't an obituary; it was a clearance sale for those with the conviction to look past the price charts.

Anchorage Digital Raises $100M in Tether-Led Funding Round

The largest raise came from Anchorage Digital, which secured $100 million in strategic financing led by stablecoin issuer Tether.

The federally chartered crypto bank offers custody, trading and crypto-native banking services to institutions and plans to use the funding to expand its operational infrastructure as demand from asset managers and corporations grows.

Tether said the investment reflects efforts to align stablecoins with regulated financial systems and deepen ties with institutional partners exploring tokenized payments and settlement.

Blockchain analytics provider TRM Labs raised $70 million in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital, reaching a $1 billion valuation.

The company develops software used by exchanges, banks and government agencies to monitor blockchain transactions, detect fraud and track illicit activity.

The fresh capital will support expansion into new markets and enhance investigative tools, highlighting the growing role compliance technology plays as regulators increase scrutiny of crypto markets.

Meanwhile, Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter completed a $35 million strategic round backed by ParaFi Capital.

The investment was settled using JupUSD, the project’s stablecoin, with ParaFi purchasing JUP tokens and agreeing to a long-term lockup.

Jupiter also announced that prediction market platform Polymarket will integrate with its ecosystem on Solana, signaling continued development across trading applications even during weak market conditions.

For the first time, @Polymarket is coming to Solana. On Jupiter.

Integrating Polymarket is primed for making Jupiter the most innovative predictions platform on Solana

Trade all the markets you want. On one onchain platform.

The best user-experience on Solana

The biggest… pic.twitter.com/lSpxZ93SaK

Andreessen Horowitz Raises $15B to Back AI and Crypto Innovation

Last month, Andreessen Horowitz secured more than $15 billion in fresh capital, strengthening its standing as one of the most powerful venture capital firms in the US tech sector.

The funds span multiple strategies, including infrastructure, applications, healthcare, growth investments and its “American Dynamism” initiative.

In 2025 alone, the firm represented over 18% of total venture capital deployed in the United States.

Co-founder Ben Horowitz said the fundraising reflects the firm’s Core philosophy that venture capital exists to give people opportunities to build companies and create value.

He framed startups as engines of social mobility, arguing that innovation ecosystems work best when individuals are free to pursue success and experimentation.

Horowitz also linked the firm’s mission to broader geopolitical competition. He warned that US leadership in technology is not guaranteed and could weaken if the country falls behind in foundational innovations.

According to the firm, technological leadership carries economic, military and cultural consequences globally.

The new capital will focus heavily on artificial intelligence and crypto, which the firm views as defining technologies of the next era.