Crypto Startups Defy Gravity: $1.15B Raised in June 2025 Amid 9% Deal Surge

Crypto's comeback kids just flipped the script—again. June saw blockchain ventures haul in $1.15 billion across 140 funding rounds, marking a 9% monthly uptick. Who said bear markets last forever?

VCs playing hot potato with bags—or betting on the next bull run?

While TradFi bankers still argue about "intrinsic value," smart money keeps stacking sats. The deal flow doesn't lie: 140 funding events suggest founders are building while weak hands panic-sell memecoins.

The takeaway? When crypto winter thaws, the builders eat first. Just don't tell the SEC.

Kalshi, which won a court case against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), lets traders bet on real-world events, everything from political elections to sports and the economy. With fresh capital now in hand, Kalshi plans to deepen integrations with mainstream brokers and roll out new contract types.

Not far behind, Digital Asset secured $135 million in strategic funding aimed squarely at accelerating institutional adoption of its Canton Network. Already powering tokenized real-world assets like bonds and funds, Canton is Digital Asset’s interoperable blockchain protocol for enterprises.

The new capital will fuel the onboarding of more financial firms and asset classes, driving broader industry use and cementing Canton’s role as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized ledger technology. The round was led by DRW Venture Capital and Tradeweb Markets, among other investors.

Token sale deals are making a comeback

The frenzy isn’t limited to equity rounds. Token sales are back as well. World Liberty Finance, the outfit behind the USD1 dollar-pegged stablecoin, raised $100 million in a private token distribution.

Eigen Labs, backed by a16z Crypto, pulled in $70 million to refine its zero-knowledge tooling for projects such as EigenLayer and EigenDA, underscoring the premium investors place on privacy and scalability.

Even cryptography-heavy startups are in on the action. Zama FHE closed a $57 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation, led by Pantera Capital and Blockchange Ventures. Their pitch? Fully homomorphic encryption that crunches data without ever exposing it, enabling the execution of smart contracts on encrypted data. It’s a technology long talked about and only now inching toward real-world use in finance, healthcare, and government.

H1 2025 funding trends may persist into the second half of the year

June’s 140 financing rounds spanned early-stage blockchain protocols, compliance-ready fintechs, and token-based ventures. While total capital deployed aligned with prior months, the increased deal count signals that investors are reengaging with purpose.

Hybrid financing models, mixing traditional equity with token distributions, are no longer niche; they’re becoming the norm as founders leverage the best of both worlds.

Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, the persistence of capital flow into prediction markets could intensify competition between Kalshi and its closest rival, Polymarket, which is rumored to be closing a $200 million raise that WOULD similarly place it in unicorn territory.

Meanwhile, Digital Asset’s Canton Network will face its own test: onboarding those promised financial firms and assets at scale to prove that enterprise-grade blockchains can match legacy systems in security and performance.

KEY Difference Wire: the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage