Original author: The Block

Compiled by: Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Translator: CryptoLeo (@LeoAndCrypto)

According to financing data from The Block Pro, crypto venture capital funding in 2024 is expected to grow by 28% year-on-year, reaching approximately $13.7 billion, marking significant progress compared to 2023. Despite a strong momentum this year, the growth rate remains below previous peaks.

Looking ahead to 2025, top cryptocurrency venture capital firms are cautiously optimistic. While most believe that funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, there is a clear consensus that startups with high product-market fit and user acceptance are most likely to attract capital in the coming year.

Here are the insights shared by leaders from firms such as Dragonfly, Pantera, Multicoin, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, and Galaxy Ventures with The Block, compiled by Odaily Planet Daily:

Dragonfly: Betting on DeFi, CeFi, Stablecoins, and More

Rob Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly, told The Block that he expects significant growth in crypto venture capital in 2025, driven by a relaxed regulatory environment in the U.S., potential appreciation in token prices, and increased institutional capital deployment. However, Hadick believes that funding levels will not reach the highs of 2021-2022 for a "long time," reflecting a cautious attitude from venture capital firms towards new project investments in the coming year.

Dragonfly remains focused on supporting top founders in areas with high product-market fit, including decentralized finance (DeFi), scaling platforms, centralized finance (CeFi), and stablecoins/payments. While newer fields like crypto AI and DePIN are gaining attention, they are still in an "experimental" phase.

Conversely, Hadick noted that as the focus shifts to new areas, investments in security, tokenization, and interoperability may decrease. He also predicts challenges for decentralized social media due to a lack of scalability and product-market fit.

Pantera: Optimistic About Crypto AI, DePIN, and New Application-Level Layer 1 Blockchains

Lauren Stephanian, a general partner at Pantera Capital, told The Block that crypto venture capital funding is expected to increase in 2025 as investors are more willing to deploy funds in countries that support cryptocurrency.

"The bull market cannot last forever," so "when we will start to see a slowdown in deployment next year remains to be seen."

Stephanian stated that Pantera continues to invest broadly in the crypto and blockchain space, with a particular interest in crypto AI, DePIN, and new Layer 1 blockchains that support more application-level functionalities.

Multicoin: Continuing to Favor the Solana Ecosystem

Multicoin Capital is focused on expanding its investments in DeFi applications, particularly within the Solana ecosystem, which has outperformed Ethereum and Layer 2 ecosystems in key on-chain metrics this year. Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital, told The Block, "We expect this trend to continue, and as more users, capital, issuance, and activity migrate to the Solana ecosystem, Solana-based applications and protocols will be the big winners in the next cycle."

Samani indicated that Ethereum will continue to be in a "catch-22" situation and "may even fall into a prolonged decline" due to fierce competition from Solana and other faster, cheaper blockchains. He added, "Unless Ethereum can compete, developers, users, and capital will migrate to chains that better meet their needs."

Additionally, Multicoin is optimistic about stablecoins, which Samani described as "potentially one of the greatest technological and financial innovations of our lifetime."

"Stablecoins have the opportunity to become a powerful force in 2025, as everyone in the world wants dollars, and stablecoins are the most effective way to obtain dollars so far. The design space is vast, and it is still relatively early in its adoption curve."

Coinbase Ventures: Focusing on On-Chain Economy

Hoolie Tejwani, head of Coinbase Ventures, told The Block that the company expects to "be active in 2025 and beyond" and is prepared to seize market opportunities. The company is optimistic about constructive progress in U.S. regulation, thanks to the pro-crypto Trump administration and the Congress that will take office in January 2025.

Tejwani stated that Coinbase Ventures will continue to invest broadly in the on-chain economy, guided by "the best and brightest builders working day and night on their projects." The company is optimistic about the application layer, as the increasingly mature infrastructure finally makes internet-scale applications possible. Key areas of focus include stablecoin payments and finance, crypto AI, on-chain consumer applications (such as social, gaming, and creator applications), and DeFi innovations.

Tejwani noted that, at the same time, Coinbase Ventures has not completely abandoned the infrastructure layer, as there are still unresolved challenges and new opportunities in the tooling space.

Binance Labs: Prioritizing Fundamentals and User Adoption

Binance Labs, a $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm under Binance, is a "evergreen" venture capital firm. Its investment director, Alex Odagiu, told The Block that the company will continue to support Web3, AI, and biotech startups regardless of market cycles.

Binance Labs expects strong momentum in crypto venture capital in 2025 but will remain "focused on fundamentals" rather than price action or market hype. Odagiu emphasized that projects with real use cases, product-market fit, strong teams, and sustainable revenue models are most likely to succeed.

Galaxy Ventures: Optimistic About Stablecoins and RWA

Galaxy Ventures remains optimistic about the growth potential of stablecoins and tokenization in 2025. Will Nuelle, a general partner at the firm, told The Block that stablecoins (especially in the payments space) continue to demonstrate strong product-market fit and remain a key focus area for capital deployment.

Although tokenized RWA still lags behind the adoption of stablecoins, Nuelle believes that tokenized RWA has enormous potential. Galaxy Ventures plans to further explore these opportunities. Additionally, Nuelle is not optimistic about the metaverse space, predicting that investment funds in the metaverse will lag in 2025 due to a lack of clear adoption signs.

Hashed: Cautious Outlook for 2025

Simon Seojoon Kim, CEO and managing partner of Hashed, holds a cautious outlook for 2025. He stated that while Trump's comments about Bitcoin as a repayment asset for U.S. debt suggest a potential shift in institutional sentiment, funding levels are unlikely to return to the highs of 2021-2022. Significant changes could occur if macro or political black swan events arise.

He pointed out that 2025 may be influenced by factors such as regulatory transparency in the U.S., increased institutional activity in Asian markets, and advancements in infrastructure. Kim warned that risks such as regulatory setbacks, macroeconomic uncertainty, and geopolitical tensions could suppress growth.

Hashed's investment focus for 2025 includes data infrastructure, institutional-grade DeFi applications, regulated stablecoin payment systems, and crypto AI infrastructure—Kim believes all these areas have clear product-market fit, regulatory compliance pathways, and proven revenue potential. In contrast, he expects funding for speculative GameFi projects lacking sustainable economics, indiscriminate Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols, consumer DeFi applications in restricted jurisdictions, and NFT platforms without clear utility or revenue models to decrease.

Hashed plans to close its third venture fund before the first quarter of 2025 and launch a new investment vehicle in Abu Dhabi aimed at facilitating direct token investments under the region's regulatory framework. Kim stated, "This strategic expansion addresses the limitations we face with our existing venture fund registered in Korea, where direct token investment capabilities are restricted by local regulations." Additionally, Kim declined to disclose the target fund size.

Hack VC: Betting on Crypto AI, Infrastructure, and DeFi

Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner of Hack VC, told The Block that unless a black swan event occurs, crypto venture capital funding is expected to "increase significantly" in 2025. Roman noted that renewed interest in Web3 from supportive management and founders in the crypto space is a growth factor.

Hack VC will focus on three main areas in 2025: crypto AI, infrastructure, and DeFi. Roman pointed out that due to decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) based on GPUs, crypto technology offers unique opportunities to provide multi-layer AI stacks at lower costs compared to traditional Web2 cloud solutions. He said, "In the Web2 space, this is a multi-trillion-dollar market."

In terms of infrastructure, Hack VC remains optimistic about scalability protocols, modular infrastructure, Web3 security, maximum extractable value (MEV) improvements, and account abstraction technologies. Roman stated that these innovations greatly enhance the maturity of the web3 stack and improve the user experience of decentralized applications (dApps).

Hack VC sees a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to simplify the financial system within DeFi. Roman believes that stablecoin-based payments are the foundation of this system, with a multitude of real-world applications representing "trillions of dollars in market." However, the company is not optimistic about NFTs, predicting that most NFTs will depreciate, with only blue-chip NFTs retaining their value.

Portal Ventures: Supporting Integrated Platforms that Provide Infrastructure and Applications

Evan Fisher, founder and general partner of Portal Ventures, expects that "animal spirits" will return in 2025, but he anticipates that funding levels will not return to the highs of 2021-2022, as the macroeconomic backdrop during those years was unique.

Fisher told The Block that Portal Ventures is optimistic about platforms that provide both infrastructure and applications, allowing projects to control user experience and build real use cases. He predicts that investment in heavier infrastructure projects, such as zero-knowledge development platforms and middleware, will slow down due to a lack of customers and sustainable business models.

Blockchain Capital: Focusing on Multiple Areas, Including Stablecoin Infrastructure and DeFi

Kinjal Shah, general partner at Blockchain Capital, expects that as the market continues to strengthen, funding levels will rise in 2025. However, she does not expect them to return to the peaks of 2021-2022, which were influenced by broader macroeconomic trends.

Blockchain Capital remains opportunistic, focusing on areas such as stablecoin infrastructure, innovative distribution models, and DeFi platforms that connect institutions and retail investors.

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