Crypto VC funding slid to $659m across 63 April deals, a 74% drop from March that drags monthly flows back to 2024 lows even as DeFi and AI still attract capital.
The crypto venture market hit a fresh air pocket in April, with Cointelegraph reporting that startups in the sector raised just $659 million across 63 funding rounds.
April’s funding cliff takes crypto VC back to 2024 levels
That marks a 74% month‑on‑month drop from March’s roughly $2.6 billion and 84 deals, sending monthly volumes back to their lowest level since 2024 and underscoring how quickly risk appetite has cooled after a burst of early‑2026 optimism.
By Cointelegraph’s count, total crypto VC financing so far in 2026 stands at about $5.64 billion, still substantial but well below the run‑rate implied by October 2025’s local peak, when funding reached around $3.84 billion in a single month.
From October 2025 peak to slow‑motion reset
Since that October 2025 high, monthly funding volumes have been grinding lower in parallel with token prices.
Industry trackers cited by Cointelegraph say global crypto market capitalization has dropped roughly 37% over the same period, compressing valuations and leaving many late‑stage investors nursing mark‑downs.
February already offered a warning shot: Phemex tallied about $866 million raised across 62 deals that month, down 46% from January, with DeFi and AI projects still attracting capital but at smaller ticket sizes.
April’s $659 million figure suggests that slowdown has now deepened into a full‑blown reset, with fewer large growth‑stage rounds and a higher bar for new token launches after data showed roughly 85% of 2025 issuances trade below their issue price.
Where the money still goes—and who is writing checks
Even in a quieter month, some pockets of activity stood out.
DeFi protocols led with 12 deals, followed by 8 for blockchain infrastructure and services and another 8 for AI‑adjacent crypto projects, reflecting continued interest in both core financial primitives and tooling for the emerging “agent” economy.
On the investor side, Cointelegraph’s breakdown highlights the venture arm of market maker GSR as April’s most active backer, participating in four separate raises spanning trading infrastructure and liquidity tooling.
Heavyweights such as Tether, Animoca, and Coinbase Ventures also remained present, each joining three deals, often in smaller, earlier‑stage rounds rather than the nine‑figure growth checks that defined the last cycle’s peak.
For founders, the message is clear: capital is still available, but investors are more selective and more price‑sensitive, with an emphasis on products that can survive leaner market conditions and plug directly into real usage rather than trading purely on narrative.
For the broader market, a slower VC tape tends to mean fewer new tokens hitting exchanges—and more scrutiny on whether existing projects can deliver on their roadmaps without relying on another wave of easy money.
