Crypto venture capital funding rebounded in February 2025, reaching $951 million across 98 disclosed deals, a 14% increase from January. However, the total is still 35% lower than February 2024, according to RootData. Despite the year-over-year decline, the month-over-month growth indicates a gradual recovery as institutional investors re-enter the space.
Stablecoins and Payments Dominate
Stablecoins and payments emerged as the top investment categories, attracting significant institutional backing. Decentralized finance (DeFi) and AI-related projects also saw notable funding increases, while Layer1/Layer2 blockchain and centralized finance (CeFi) remained subdued.
Key Deals in February
The largest disclosed venture capital investment was a $200 million joint venture between Figure and Sixth Street to boost private credit liquidity. Ethena raised $100 million to develop institutional-friendly tokenized assets, Bitwise secured $70 million to expand crypto asset management, and Raise received $63 million to integrate stablecoin payments into gift cards.
Other notable rounds include Blockaid's $50 million Series B for on-chain security, HashKey's $30 million investment, and Plasma's $24 million raise to build a dedicated stablecoin blockchain with zero-fee Tether transactions.
Growing Institutional Confidence
The continued flow of capital into stablecoins, payments, and DeFi infrastructure signals increasing institutional confidence in regulated and scalable crypto applications. With improving regulatory clarity, VC-backed firms are expected to drive the next wave of crypto adoption.