According to RootData statistics, in April 2025, there were a total of 66 publicly disclosed crypto VC investment projects, a month-on-month decrease of 15.4% (78 projects in March 2025) and a year-on-year decrease of 62.9% (178 projects in April 2024). The number of financings hit a new low since February 2021. The project distribution across sectors was as follows: CeFi 10.6%, DeFi 19.7%, NFT/GameFi 7.6%, L1/L2 13.6%, RWA/DePIN 22.7%, Tool/Wallet 4.5%, and AI 13.6%.

The total financing amount in April 2025 was 2.99 billion USD, a month-on-month increase of 3.1% and a year-on-year increase of 170.2%, marking a new high since May 2022. Major financing events included:
<ul><li>Ripple acquired institutional brokerage Hidden Road for 1.25 billion USD; Hidden Road clears over 3 trillion USD in transactions annually and serves more than 300 institutional clients.</li><li>Canadian listed company SOL Strategies secured up to 500 million USD in convertible notes financing for purchasing and staking SOL.</li><li>Bitdeer raised 179 million USD in loans and equity financing to expand its Bitcoin ASIC manufacturing business.</li><li>Auradine completed a 153 million USD Series C round to expand mining machine production and AI infrastructure business.</li><li>GSR invested 100 million USD in Upexi to support its crypto-asset-based treasury strategies.</li><li>a16z added 55 million USD investment in LayerZero with a 3-year lockup period.</li><li>Decentralized AI startup Nous Research completed a 50 million USD Series A round with a valuation of 1 billion USD.</li><li>Crypto dining app Blackbird finished a 50 million USD Series B round, totaling 85 million USD in cumulative financing.</li><li>Meanwhile completed a 40 million USD Series A round, valued at 190 million USD, offering Bitcoin-denominated life insurance.</li><li>Symbiotic finished a 29 million USD Series A round, launching a universal staking framework to enhance blockchain security.</li></ul>

<div><strong>Author | Wu Shuo Blockchain</strong><p>According to RootData statistics, in April 2025, there were a total of 66 publicly disclosed Crypto VC venture capital projects, a month-on-month decrease of 15.4% (78 projects in March 2025) and a year-on-year decrease of 62.9% (178 projects in April 2024). The number of financings hit a new low since February 2021. Note: Since not all financings are announced within the same month, the above statistics may increase in the future. The number of projects in each sector track is as follows:</p><div><img src="https://static.sosovalue.com/sosovalue/2025/05/05/d9192760-ae3a-471b-931b-e52ad6e3984e.png"></div><p>Among them, CeFi accounts for approximately 10.6%, DeFi about 19.7%, NFT/GameFi about 7.6%, L1/L2 about 13.6%, RWA/DePIN about 22.7%, Tool/Wallet about 4.5%, and AI about 13.6%.</p><p>The total financing amount in April 2025 was 2.99 billion USD, a month-on-month increase of 3.1% (2.90 billion USD in March 2025), and a year-on-year increase of 170.2% (1.11 billion USD in April 2024). The number of financings hit a new high since May 2022. The top 10 rounds by amount are as follows:</p><div><img src="https://static.sosovalue.com/sosovalue/2025/05/05/ab925205-85b1-42c7-9684-13545553bf97.png"></div><p>Ripple has agreed to acquire institutional brokerage firm Hidden Road for 1.25 billion USD, marking the largest acquisition to date for this crypto startup. Hidden Road, founded in 2018, provides clearing, institutional brokerage, and financing services in foreign exchange, digital assets, derivatives, swaps, and fixed income. It currently clears over 3 trillion USD in transactions annually across various markets and has more than 300 institutional clients including hedge funds.</p><p>Canadian exchange-listed company SOL Strategies announced it has secured up to 500 million USD in convertible note financing from ATW Partners. The funds will be specifically used to purchase SOL and stake it on validator nodes operated by the company. The first tranche of 20 million USD is scheduled to be completed on May 1, with staking yields to be shared by both parties.</p><p>Bitdeer raised 179 million USD through loans and equity financing to accelerate its Bitcoin ASIC manufacturing business. The company reached a loan agreement with Matrixport for up to 200 million USD and secured an unsecured loan of 17 million USD in January. Additionally, Bitdeer raised 118.80 million USD through stock issuance. The funds will be used to expand ASIC manufacturing and in-house chip development to challenge companies like Bitmain and MicroBT. In 2024, Bitdeer generated approximately 147 million USD in gross profit from mining and hosting operations and invested heavily in the production of SEALMINER series chips.</p><p>Bitcoin miner manufacturer Auradine announced the completion of a 153 million USD Series C financing round, including 138 million USD in equity financing and 15 million USD in venture debt. The round was led by StepStone Group, with participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, and others. Auradine plans to expand miner production and AI infrastructure business, currently serving clients including Marathon Digital.</p><p>Crypto asset trading and investment firm GSR has made a 100 million USD private investment in public equity (PIPE) in Upexi, Inc., a brand owner focused on consumer goods development, manufacturing, and distribution. The investment follows Upexi’s announcement of a strategic shift toward a crypto asset-based treasury strategy aimed at long-term shareholder value and yield. Upexi has committed to building a Solana treasury strategy, including accumulating and staking Solana. Since successfully completing a 100 million USD directed share issuance, the company has accumulated approximately 45,733 Solana, with an investment amount of about 6.70 million USD.</p><p>a16z general partner Ali Yahya stated an additional investment of 55 million USD in LayerZero (ZRO) with a lock-up period of 3 years. Previously, a16z led two funding rounds for LayerZero from the 2022 A1 round to the 2023 B round.</p><p>Decentralized AI startup Nous Research completed a 50 million USD Series A financing round led by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, with a valuation reaching 1 billion USD. Nous leverages the Solana blockchain to coordinate global computing power to train open-source large models in a distributed manner. It plans to launch a decentralized training system to promote democratization of AI model training.</p></div></p><p>Crypto dining application Blackbird has completed a $50 million Series B funding round, led by Spark Capital, with participation from Coinbase, a16z crypto, Union Square Ventures, among others. Blackbird founder Ben Leventhal stated that he raised this funding in the fourth quarter of 2024. Since 2022, Blackbird has raised a total of $85 million in funding.</p><p>Recently, Meanwhile completed a $40 million Series A funding round led by Framework Ventures and Fulgur Ventures, with participation from Wences Casares, founder of crypto asset bank Xapo. This funding round values Meanwhile at $190 million. Meanwhile is a Bitcoin life insurance provider, with its first product being a Bitcoin (BTC)-denominated whole life insurance policy.</p><p>Crypto asset staking protocol Symbiotic announced the completion of a $29 million Series A funding round, led by Pantera Capital, with Coinbase Ventures and over 100 angel investors from teams including Aave, Polygon, and StarkWare participating. The conclusion of this funding round also marks the launch of Symbiotic's universal staking framework, designed to be an economic coordination layer that enhances blockchain security through staking.</p></div>

Wu Says April VC Monthly Report: Ripple Acquires Institutional Brokerage Firm for 1.25 Billion, SOL and MicroStrategy Raise 500 Million, Bit Deer Raises 179 Million, etc.