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| Greetings, Crypto Enthusiasts 👋, | The Blockworks research platform's head of data, Dan Smith, highlighted a significant slowdown in crypto fundraising observed in 2025 so far. | The investors have been more conservative compared to back in early 2021, the investors are putting apples into the basket that have high-conviction verticals. | Despite the slowdown, as we close out May, the crypto fundraising landscape has demonstrated remarkable vitality. In event the blockchain that saw the most ‘monetary love’ last week was Bitcoin and solana. | | Moreover, this past week, 18 blockchain startups collectively secured $183.3 million in funding, showcasing the sector's resilience and innovation. | Let's delve into the key highlights and emerging trends from this dynamic week. | | This newsletter is sponsored by " AI Report". | Practical AI for Business Leaders | | The AI Report is the #1 daily read for professionals who want to lead with AI, not get left behind. | You’ll get clear, jargon-free insights you can apply across your business—without needing to be technical. | 400,000+ leaders are already subscribed. | 👉 Join now and work smarter with AI. | Stay ahead. Stay informed. | | 🔝 Spotlight: Twenty One's $100M Bitcoin Treasury Round | Leading the pack this week is Twenty One, a Bitcoin-focused public company that just raised a whopping $100 million through convertible senior secured notes. Big names like Tether, SoftBank, and Bitfinex backed the round, showing serious confidence in its vision. | Founded by Jack Mallers, Twenty One is on a mission to stack as much Bitcoin as possible—literally. The company is built around maximizing Bitcoin per share (BPS), and it already holds 31,500 BTC. With this fresh capital, the total amount raised now sits at $685 million, making Twenty One one of the most aggressive Bitcoin accumulators out there. | 👉What are your thoughts on companies like Twenty One focusing solely on Bitcoin accumulation? Share your insights on the implications for institutional adoption. | | | 🌱 Early-Stage Innovations: Pre-Seed and Seed Rounds | The early-stage segment saw several innovative startups securing funding: | Donut: Raised $7 million in a pre-seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, Hack VC, and others. Donut introduces an Agentic Crypto Browser built on Solana, designed for AI agents and on-chain financial actions. Dexari: Secured $2.3 million in seed funding from Prelude, Lemniscap, Binance US, and more. Dexari offers a mobile-first, self-custodial trading platform for decentralized perpetual futures trading with up to 50x leverage. EGO.tech: Obtained $800K in pre-seed funding from investors including Raj Gokal and Marc Boiron. EGO.tech enables the creation and trading of tokens linked to online profiles, effectively tokenizing digital identities. Rumi Labs: Raised $4.7 million in pre-seed funding from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator and Escape Velocity. Rumi transforms passive media consumption into interactive, AI-powered experiences, rewarding users for engagement. Asigna: Secured $3 million in seed funding from Hivemind, Tykhe Ventures, and others. Asigna offers a non-custodial smart multisig vault for secure Bitcoin asset management, integrating with various Bitcoin protocols.
| 👉Which of these early-stage startups do you believe has the potential to disrupt their respective sectors? Let's discuss the innovations that excite you. | |  | i |
| 💼 Other Notable Funding Rounds | Beyond early-stage ventures, several companies made significant strides: | Conduit Pay: Raised $36 million in a Series A round from Dragonfly Capital, Altos Ventures, and others. Conduit is a modern cross-border payments platform facilitating near-instant global transfers across stablecoins, USD, and local currencies. Assisterr AI: Secured $2.8 million in funding from Google for Startups, Outlier Ventures, and more. Assisterr AI provides businesses with automated customer interaction solutions, enhancing efficiency and user experiences. Cooking City (MagicSeven Co., Ltd.): Raised $7 million from Jump Crypto, CMT Digital, and others. Cooking City is a cooking game that integrates a cryptocurrency token, $COOKCITY, built on the Solana blockchain. Winks.fun: Received an undisclosed amount from IOSG Ventures. Winks.fun integrates decentralized applications directly into social media platforms, enabling on-chain actions within social feeds. Naoris Protocol: Secured $3 million in a strategic funding round from Mason Labs, Frekaz Group, and others. Naoris Protocol is a decentralized cybersecurity mesh that transforms connected devices into validator nodes. Oncade: Raised $4 million from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator. Oncade is a Web3-native game distribution platform that empowers developers to sell directly to players, bypassing traditional platform fees. BlockSpaces: Obtained $2 million in a strategic funding round from Axiom, Leadout Capital, and Sand Harbor Capital. BlockSpaces enables institutions to utilize Bitcoin as programmable collateral through its financial infrastructure platform. Beam Cash: Raised $7 million from Castle Island Ventures, Archetype, and others. Beam is a payments platform bridging traditional finance and blockchain technology for fast, low-cost global money transfers. Ducat: Secured $1.5 million in a public sale. Ducat governs the issuance and redemption of UNIT Collateralized Debt Positions using Bitcoin-native, zero-knowledge proof circuits. H100 Group AB: Raised $2.2 million from Adam Back. H100 is a Swedish health technology company specializing in AI-powered automation and digital solutions for health and longevity service providers. Hyperion: Received an undisclosed amount from Maelstrom. Hyperion is a fully on-chain hybrid Orderbook-AMM DEX built natively on Aptos, offering high throughput and low latency. Avalon Labs: Secured an undisclosed amount from YZi Labs. Avalon Finance is a decentralized lending protocol built on Merlin Chain, focusing on overcollateralized lending, derivatives trading, and an algorithmic stablecoin.
| 👉Among these ventures, which do you see as game-changers in their industries? Share your perspectives on their potential impact. | | | 📊 Funding Overview | Here's a breakdown of the week's funding rounds: | Unknown rounds: 9 startups raised a total of $123 million. Series A round: 1 startup raised $36 million. Pre-seed rounds: 3 startups raised a combined $12.5 million. Seed rounds: 2 startups secured $5.3 million in total. Strategic rounds: 2 startups garnered $5 million collectively. Public sale round: 1 startup raised $1.5 million.
| | Total: 18 startups raised $183.3 million. | What trend do you think will dominate crypto fundraising in the coming months? | | | 🔮 Looking Ahead | The diversity and scale of this week's funding activities underscore the crypto industry's dynamic nature. From Bitcoin-focused treasury strategies to innovative applications in AI, gaming, and decentralized finance, the ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly. | "How do you feel about the current state of crypto fundraising?" | | Stay informed and engaged as we continue to monitor and report on the developments shaping the crypto world. | Stay tuned.
We’ll be tracking Q2 week by week - and as always, decoding the signal from the noise. | Until next time,
From FOMOchain Team. | |
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