The first quarter of 2025 has been marked by extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin surging to all-time highs before experiencing a significant correction. Investor sentiment has fluctuated dramatically, influenced by various factors, including a major endorsement from former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Despite the turbulence, venture capital (VC) firms have continued to invest heavily in blockchain and crypto startups, particularly in areas such as decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), Web3 gaming, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and derivatives markets.
Key Funding Rounds in the Crypto Sector
Alchemy Launches $5M Web3 Adoption Fund
Blockchain development firm Alchemy has introduced a $5 million fund, “Everyone Onchain Fund,” to accelerate Web3 adoption on Ethereum. The initiative will provide developers with up to $10,000 in gas credits and $20,000 in computing credits, initially supporting OP Stack and Arbitrum Orbit.
Alchemy’s rollups-as-a-service offering continues to expand, with one of its most notable partners being World, a biometric digital identity project formerly known as Worldcoin. Since its inception, World has attracted over 23 million users globally.
Mavryk Secures $5M for RWA Tokenization
Mavryk Dynamics, a developer of a layer-1 network for RWA tokenization, closed a $5 million funding round led by Ghaf Capital, Big Brain, MetaVest Capital, Cluster Capital, Collective Ventures, and Atlas Funds. The company aims to bridge traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi) through non-custodial features, including a protocol treasury, grants, and liquidity mining. According to RWA.xyz, the RWA market has expanded significantly, reaching a valuation of $17.9 billion as of early March.
Rho Labs Raises $4M for Decentralized Derivatives
Rho Labs, the developer behind the decentralized rates exchange Rho Protocol, secured $4 million in a seed round led by CoinFund, with participation from Auros, Flow Traders, and Speedinvest. Rho Protocol enables users to stake, lend, and trade perpetual futures in a single platform. The company has reportedly processed more than $7 billion in notional volumes.
CoinFund co-founder Alex Felix highlighted Rho Labs’ role in addressing gaps in crypto markets, particularly in standardizing funding and forward rates between centralized and decentralized finance.
Teneo Secures $3M to Democratize Social Media Data
DePIN project Teneo Protocol raised $3 million in seed funding from RockawayX and Borderless, with additional investment from Generative Ventures. The project, built on the layer-1 network Peaq, operates a Web3 browser extension that allows users to contribute to its data network in exchange for Teneo Points, which can be converted into future Teneo Tokens. Teneo claims to have amassed more than 3.5 million users across 191 countries.
Fluent Labs Receives $8M Backing from Polychain Capital
Ethereum layer-2 developer Fluent Labs secured $8 million in a funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from multiple venture funds and angel investors. The startup positions itself as a “blended execution network” aimed at removing constraints on blockchain-based virtual machines. It supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Solana Virtual Machine, and WebAssembly applications, with over 60 projects currently building on its network, spanning DeFi, consumer applications, and gaming.
The Game Company Raises $10M for Blockchain Gaming Infrastructure
UAE-based The Game Company raised $10 million to advance its cloud gaming infrastructure, allowing users to access PC and console titles via blockchain. Investors in the round included Telcoin, BullPerks, and Singularity DAO. The platform, which has over 500,000 users on its waitlist, is set to offer more than 1,300 titles across PlayStation, Microsoft Store, and Steam. Recent test phases in the UAE saw over 43,000 registrations and 10,000 new unique wallets.
ACID Labs Secures $8M for Web3 Social Gaming
Web3 gaming studio ACID Labs closed an $8 million funding round led by a16z Speedrun, with backing from NFX, Fusion VC, and various gaming executives. ACID Labs is behind Boinkers, a Telegram-based game boasting 11.5 million monthly players.
The firm plans to scale its Web3 social games on Telegram further. Blockchain gaming has seen a surge in activity, with the number of daily active Web3 gamers reaching 7.3 million in January 2025, according to DappRadar, marking a 386% increase year-over-year.
Editorial Note: This news article has been written with assistance from AI. Edited & fact-checked by Harshajit Sarmah.
