{"id":21198,"date":"2026-02-03T13:09:36","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/crypto-vc-shrank-in-january-but-bankrolls-stilled-flowed\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:09:41","slug":"crypto-vc-shrank-in-january-but-bankrolls-stilled-flowed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/crypto-vc-shrank-in-january-but-bankrolls-stilled-flowed\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto VC shrank in January \u2014 but bankrolls stilled flowed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Crypto VC deals fell in January, but funding exploded as big checks flowed into BitGo, Fireblocks, Ripple\u2019s RLUSD push, DeFi bets, and SOL\u2011backed credit.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_8a28792569af9be870f0748841aa27a5\" 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>Crypto VC deals dropped 15% MoM and 42% YoY, while funding jumped 61% MoM and 497% YoY to $14.57b.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Flagship deals included BitGo\u2019s $212m IPO, Fireblocks\u2019 $130m TRES buyout, and Ripple\u2019s $150m RLUSD\u2011LMAX financing.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>From Coincheck\u20133iQ to SOL\u2011backed Upexi notes, capital is rotating into scaled, institutional\u2011grade infrastructure.\u200b<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"headline-shift-fewer-deals-much-bigger-checks\">Headline shift: fewer deals, much bigger checks<\/h2>\n<p>According to RootData, just 52 crypto VC investments were publicly disclosed in January 2026, \u201cdown 15% month\u2011on\u2011month (61 projects in December 2025) and down 42% year\u2011on\u2011year (89 projects in January 2025).\u201d Yet total funding soared to \u201cUSD 14.57 billion, up 61% month\u2011on\u2011month (USD 9.06 billion in December 2025) and up 497% year\u2011on\u2011year (USD 2.44 billion in January 2025),\u201d underscoring a market where capital concentrates into fewer, larger winners. Sector\u2011wise, CeFi took roughly 15% of disclosed deals, DeFi about 25%, NFT\/GameFi 6%, L1\/L2 6%, RWA\/DePIN 10%, Tool\/Wallet 8%, and AI 8%.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wublock.substack.com\/p\/vc-report-in-jan-deal-count-down?r=jbpop&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">rypto VC funding in January 2026 surged 61% month-on-month to $14.57b even as disclosed deal count dropped 15%, highlighting larger tickets into fewer projects. Source: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/wublock.substack.com\/p\/vc-report-in-jan-deal-count-down?r=jbpop&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">WuBlockchain<\/a>, \u201cVC Report in Jan, Deal Count Down 15%, Funding Amount Up 61%\u201d <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That bifurcation mirrors the broader institutionalization trend highlighted in prior infrastructure stories, from BitGo\u2019s public\u2011market ambitions to custody consolidation and exchange upgrades.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"flagship-transactions-ipos-acquisitions-and-stable\">Flagship transactions: IPOs, acquisitions, and stablecoin rails<\/h2>\n<p>Custody heavyweight BitGo priced its U.S. IPO at \u201cUSD 18 per share, above the previously indicated range of USD 15\u201317,\u201d selling \u201ca total of 11.8 million shares, raising approximately USD 213 million, implying a valuation of over USD 2 billion.\u201d Jointly underwritten by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, the deal makes BitGo \u201cthe first crypto company to complete an IPO in 2026,\u201d a milestone in the sector\u2019s march into public equity markets.<\/p>\n<p>On the infrastructure side, Fireblocks agreed to acquire crypto accounting platform TRES Finance in a cash\u2011and\u2011stock transaction \u201cvalued at approximately USD 130 million.\u201d Fireblocks said the deal will \u201cenhance its data analytics and financial management capabilities in the crypto space, helping enterprises more comprehensively manage digital assets spread across multiple platforms and wallets,\u201d its second acquisition in three months.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Ripple struck a \u201cmulti\u2011year strategic partnership with LMAX Group,\u201d under which Ripple will provide \u201cUSD 150 million in financing to support the broad use of the RLUSD stablecoin as margin and a settlement asset within LMAX\u2019s global institutional trading system.\u201d RLUSD will be integrated as a \u201ccore collateral asset\u201d across LMAX\u2019s infrastructure, deepening the stablecoin\u2019s role in institutional trading.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"strategic-bets-exchanges-defi-and-solbacked-credit\">Strategic bets: exchanges, DeFi, and SOL\u2011backed credit<\/h2>\n<p>Japanese exchange Coincheck moved to acquire roughly 97% of Canadian asset manager 3iQ at a valuation \u201cof approximately USD 112 million,\u201d issuing 27.1497 million new shares at \u201cUSD 4.00 per share\u201d as consideration. 3iQ, founded in 2012, previously launched some of North America\u2019s first Bitcoin and Ethereum funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange and, in 2025, added a Solana staking ETF and an XRP spot ETF.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<p>In DeFi, Andre Cronje\u2011led Flying Tulip raised \u201cUSD 25.5 million\u201d in a private Series A at a \u201cUSD 1 billion FDV,\u201d bringing \u201ctotal institutional funding to USD 225.5 million,\u201d alongside \u201cUSD 50 million\u201d raised via Impossible Finance\u2019s Curated platform and a reserved \u201cUSD 200 million allocation\u201d for an upcoming public CoinList sale. Crypto payments network Mesh closed a \u201cUSD 75 million Series C,\u201d lifting total funding above USD 200 million and valuing the company at USD 1 billion, while market\u2011maker Talos secured a USD 45 million Series B extension at a USD 1.5 billion valuation with Robinhood joining investors such as a16z crypto, BNY, and Fidelity.<\/p>\n<p>One of the more structurally interesting deals saw Upexi sign a securities purchase agreement with Hivemind Capital Partners for about \u201cUSD 36 million in principal amount of convertible notes, backed by SOL as consideration and collateralized accordingly,\u201d at a 1.0% coupon, fixed conversion price of \u201cUSD 2.39 per share,\u201d and a 24\u2011month term; after closing, \u201cthe company\u2019s SOL reserves are expected to increase by 12% to over 2.4 million SOL.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"macro-tape-majors-still-define-risk\">Macro tape: majors still define risk<\/h2>\n<p>This parabolic move comes as digital assets continue to trade as the purest expression of macro risk appetite. Bitcoin (BTC) changes hands near $78,500, with a 24\u2011hour high just above $79,200 and a low in the mid\u2011$74,000s, on roughly $80B in spot and derivatives turnover. Ethereum (ETH) trades around $2,320, with about $34B in 24\u2011hour volume as majors consolidate after recent gains. Solana (SOL) hovers close to $104, up roughly 2\u20133% over the last day, on more than $4.3B in trading volume.<\/p>\n<p>Together, January\u2019s VC tape and the still\u2011buoyant majors paint a market where cheap money is gone, but deep\u2011pocketed investors are doubling down on scale, regulation\u2011friendly infrastructure, and institutional rails rather than spray\u2011and\u2011pray token bets.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crypto VC deals fell in January, but funding exploded as big checks flowed into BitGo, Fireblocks, Ripple\u2019s RLUSD push, DeFi bets, and SOL\u2011backed credit. Summary Crypto VC deals dropped 15%&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21198","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\/21198","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=21198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21199,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21198\/revisions\/21199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}