Even as the crypto market reels from an estimated $2 trillion wipeout, investors are still writing checks.
In the first week of February alone, crypto startups raised about $258 million, according to data from DeFiLlama. The funding suggests that while prices are down and sentiment is shaky, venture capital hasn’t disappeared — it’s simply shifted its focus toward infrastructure, compliance, and services aimed at institutional users.
Most of the money went to companies building the plumbing of the crypto economy rather than speculative consumer projects. Decentralized finance startups led the way with four funding rounds, followed by payments-focused firms.
The biggest deal of the week belonged to Anchorage Digital, which raised $100 million in a strategic round led by stablecoin giant Tether. Anchorage, a federally chartered crypto bank, provides custody, trading, and banking services for institutional clients. The company says it will use the new capital to scale its operations as demand grows from asset managers and corporations exploring digital assets.
Tether framed the investment as part of a broader push to connect stablecoins with regulated financial systems and to deepen relationships with institutions experimenting with tokenized payments and settlement.
Compliance and analytics were another major theme.
Blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs raised $70 million in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital, valuing the company at $1 billion. TRM’s tools are used by exchanges, banks, and government agencies to track blockchain activity, detect fraud, and investigate illicit finance — a growing business as regulators tighten oversight of crypto markets. The company says the funding will help it expand into new regions and strengthen its investigative capabilities.
Not all of the capital went to compliance and banking. On the trading side, Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator Jupiter closed a $35 million strategic round backed by ParaFi Capital. The deal was settled using Jupiter’s own stablecoin, JupUSD, with ParaFi purchasing JUP tokens and committing to a long-term lockup.
Jupiter also announced that prediction market platform Polymarket plans to integrate with its Solana-based ecosystem, a sign that builders are still pushing ahead with new products despite weak market conditions.
Zooming out, the broader venture landscape helps explain why money is still flowing.
Andreessen Horowitz recently raised more than $15 billion across multiple funds, reinforcing its position as one of the most influential venture firms in the US. The capital will be spread across infrastructure, applications, healthcare, growth-stage investments, and the firm’s “American Dynamism” strategy.
In 2025 alone, Andreessen Horowitz accounted for more than 18% of all venture capital deployed in the United States. Co-founder Ben Horowitz has argued that venture capital’s role is to give people the chance to build companies and create long-term value, especially during downturns.
He has also tied the firm’s mission to global competition, warning that US leadership in technology — particularly in areas like artificial intelligence and crypto — isn’t guaranteed. Falling behind in foundational technologies, he said, would carry economic, military, and cultural consequences.
For now, at least, investors seem willing to look past collapsing token prices and bet that the next phase of crypto will be built quietly, during the downturn.
