Venture capital into crypto remained muted in November, extending a slowdown that has persisted into late 2025. Capital continued to concentrate in a handful of large financings for established names, while the total number of deals stayed low.
Data from Galaxy Digital highlights a similar dynamic in Q3: aggregate funding climbed to $4.65 billion even as deal counts lagged, with money flowing into larger, more mature firms. November followed that pattern—RootData logged only 57 disclosed crypto funding rounds for the month, one of the weakest monthly totals this year—even as headline raises such as Revolut’s $1 billion and Kraken’s $800 million grabbed headlines.
RootData said most disclosed November transactions were clustered in centralized finance (CeFi), decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT–GameFi projects. Industry observers warn the thin deal market could have lasting effects. “Investing in tough times is when the best deals are made,” said Sarah Austin, co-founder of real-world-asset gaming platform Titled, adding that subdued activity may slow sector development.
This VC Roundup highlights three disclosed raises in decentralized perpetuals, onchain yield and Web3–AI.
Ostium — $24 million
Ostium, a decentralized perpetuals protocol founded by former Harvard classmates, raised $24 million to expand onchain perpetuals beyond crypto into stocks, commodities, indices and FX. The new capital will support upgrades to smart contracts, pricing oracles and liquidity engines to handle higher volumes and to position Ostium as a perpetuals layer for real-world assets. Investors named in the round include General Catalyst, Jump Crypto, Susquehanna International Group and angel backers from Bridgewater, Two Sigma and Brevan Howard.
Axis — $5 million
Onchain revenue protocol Axis closed a $5 million private round led by Galaxy Ventures as it prepares to launch an onchain yield product that provides exposure to Bitcoin, gold and the U.S. dollar. The financing also saw participation from OKX Ventures, Maven 11 Capital, CMS Holdings and FalconX. Axis said it has already deployed $100 million of private capital through a beta platform to stress-test its protocol engine and will use the new funds to continue building transparent onchain yield infrastructure.
PoobahAI — $2 million
PoobahAI, a Texas startup offering a no-code platform for tokenized Web3 networks and AI agents, raised $2 million in seed funding led by FourTwoAlpha. The company plans to expand tools that let creators and businesses deploy onchain ecosystems and AI agents without coding, aiming to accelerate adoption of AI–Web3 primitives that enable more autonomous, user-controlled applications.
Overall, November’s figures underline a selective funding environment: meaningful capital is still available for proven teams and large projects, but deal flow is thin and early-stage startups face a tougher fundraising landscape.