{"id":13712,"date":"2025-10-18T19:00:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T19:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/crypto-vc-funding-tempo-bags-500m-kraken-secures-the-small-exchange-for-100m\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T19:00:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T19:00:51","slug":"crypto-vc-funding-tempo-bags-500m-kraken-secures-the-small-exchange-for-100m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/crypto-vc-funding-tempo-bags-500m-kraken-secures-the-small-exchange-for-100m\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto VC Funding: Tempo bags $500m, Kraken secures the Small Exchange for $100m"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">The week of October 12-18, 2025, has seen $1.059 billion in crypto funding across 22 projects, with Tempo\u2019s $500 million Series A round leading.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_a0ce08767f4e87710699da27a97b4c6c\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tempo raised $500M in Series A, valuing its Layer 1 at $5B.<\/li>\n<li>Kraken acquired the SMALL exchange for $100M.<\/li>\n<li>Total crypto funding hit $1.06B across 22 projects.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>Payment infrastructure and trading platforms dominated the VC funding this week. Here\u2019s a list of this week\u2019s crypto funding activity according to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/crypto-fundraising.info\/deal-flow\/?start_date=2025-10-12&amp;end_date=2025-10-18&amp;sortby=raised&amp;sort=desc&amp;filter=closed\">Crypto Fundraising data<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tempo<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tempo, a payments\u2011first Layer\u202f1 blockchain, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/crypto\/2025\/10\/17\/stripe-paradigm-tempo-series-a-5-billion-thrive-capital-greenoaks-joshua-kushner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">raised<\/a> $500 million in a Series A round<\/li>\n<li>The project now has a fully diluted valuation of $5 billion<\/li>\n<li>Tempo\u2019s backers include Grey Wolf, Thrive Capital and Sequoia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">SMALL exchange<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kraken acquired SMALL Exchange for $100 million.<\/li>\n<li>The deal enables the startup to offer regulated crypto derivatives onshore.<\/li>\n<li>It builds on earlier acquisitions like NinjaTrader and Crypto Facilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Daylight Energy<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Raised $75 million in an Unknown round<\/li>\n<li>Investors include Framework, Turtle Hill Capital, and AI6Z<\/li>\n<li>Daylight Energy has raised $88 million so far<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We\u2019ve raised $75M to build the decentralized energy network powering the world\u2019s most important commodity: electricity.<\/p>\n<p>This funding helps us move faster toward an electric grid that delivers what the old one no longer can: affordability, reliability, and abundant power. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Jk8fIlSQko\">pic.twitter.com\/Jk8fIlSQko<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Daylight (@daylightenergy_) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daylightenergy_\/status\/1978802756929438020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jito<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ai16z invested $50 million in Jito<\/li>\n<li>Jito is a liquid Solana staking protocol<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Better Payment Network (BPN)<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Better Payment Network raised $50 million in a Seed round<\/li>\n<li>Investors include YZiLabs<\/li>\n<li>The project is a blockchain-native cross-border payments and FX protocol<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Projects under $50 million<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Telcoin, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/telcoin\/status\/1978084850595774788\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$25 million<\/a> in a Series A round<\/li>\n<li>Tria, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/useTria\/status\/1978088602815889715\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$12 million<\/a> in a Pre-seed round<\/li>\n<li>Inference, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/0xSamHogan\/status\/1978165986789671179\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$11.8 million<\/a> in a Seed round<\/li>\n<li>TAO Synergies Inc. (ex Synaptogenix), <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TAOSynergies\/status\/1978128444706713631\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$11 million <\/a>in an Unknown round<\/li>\n<li>DSRV, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dsrvlabs\/status\/1978763715513377034\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$9.57 million<\/a> in a Series B round<\/li>\n<li>Crown (BRL), $8.1 million in a Seed round<\/li>\n<li>Orochi Network, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/OrochiNetwork\/status\/1979114662118724021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$8 million<\/a> in an Unknown round<\/li>\n<li>4AI, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/4aibsc\/status\/1978015412400054289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$6 million<\/a> in a Strategic round<\/li>\n<li>Temple, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/temple_ny\/status\/1978808166801428717\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$5 million<\/a> in a Seed round<\/li>\n<li>Ryder, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Ryder_ID\/status\/1978773212260675814\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$3.2 million<\/a> in a Seed round<\/li>\n<li>Voyage, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/onvoyage_ai\/status\/1978803530086658294\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$3 million<\/a> in a Pre-seed round<\/li>\n<li>CryptoMesh, $2.5 million in a Series A round<\/li>\n<li>375ai, $2 million in a Public sale with $75 million fully diluted valuation<\/li>\n<li>Octra, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/octra\/status\/1978812105655456162\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$2 million<\/a> in a Public sale<\/li>\n<li>Dare Market, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dare_market\/status\/1978933818837856669\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$2 million<\/a> in an Unknown round<\/li>\n<li>Legend Trade, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/legendtrade\/status\/1978826897833275721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$1.5 million<\/a> in a Pre-seed round<\/li>\n<li>Seer, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/seertrade\/status\/1978900375756509218\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">$300,000<\/a> in a Private round<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The week of October 12-18, 2025, has seen $1.059 billion in crypto funding across 22 projects, with Tempo\u2019s $500 million Series A round leading. Summary Tempo raised $500M in Series&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13713,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13712\/revisions\/13713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}