Are Venture Capital Funds All Going to the Giants? The Truth About Crypto Financing in November: Large Transactions Keep the Show Going

November’s crypto VC activity shows a clear slowdown, with only large-scale financings supporting the total amount; trading volume hits this year’s low, but notable investments such as Ostium, Axis, and PoobahAI focusing on on-chain sustainability and Web3–AI continue to emerge.

Crypto venture capital performance in November remains weak, with only a few major financings driving the total, resulting in one of the lowest levels of overall trading activity this year.

Venture capital funding in the crypto industry stayed subdued in November, continuing a broader slowdown extending into late 2025. Trading activity again concentrated on a small number of large-scale financings by mature companies. Similar trends appeared in Q3: Galaxy Digital’s data shows total funding rising to $4.65 billion, but deal count lagged, with funds mainly flowing to larger, more established companies.

Source: Galaxy Digital Funding and deal activity in crypto venture capital remain well below previous bull market levels.

November also reflected the same divergence. Data from RootData shows that only 57 funding rounds were disclosed this month—one of the weakest figures this year—despite notable raises like Revolut’s $1 billion and Kraken’s $800 million ahead of its anticipated IPO. According to RootData, most deals in November focused on centralized finance, decentralized finance, and NFT–GameFi industries.

While the slowdown in trading volume partly reflects broader market conditions, this trend poses longer-term risks, said Sarah Austin, co-founder of the physical asset gaming platform Titled. She told Cointelegraph: “Ultimately, this has a negative impact on the entire industry because investing during tough times often results in the best deals.”

The latest VC Roundup highlights three funding deals in the sectors of decentralized sustainable stocks, on-chain yields, and Web3–AI.

Ostium Secures $24 Million for On-Chain Sustainability Protocol Expansion

Ostium, a decentralized sustainable asset platform founded by former Harvard classmates, has raised $24 million in new funding to expand its on-chain sustainability protocols into non-crypto markets such as stocks, commodities, indices, and currencies. This financing supports broader company efforts to position Ostium as a leading sustainable protocol for real-world assets, expanding access to traditional markets through self-custodied infrastructure.

Ostium stated that the funds will be used to strengthen its core systems, including smart contracts, pricing infrastructure, and liquidity engines, to support higher trading volumes. Investors include General Catalyst, Jump Crypto, Susquehanna International Group, and angels from Bridgewater, Two Sigma, and Brevan Howard.

Axis Raises $5 Million for On-Chain Yield Protocol

On-chain yield protocol Axis raised $5 million in a private funding round led by Galaxy Ventures, as the company prepares to launch an on-chain yield protocol offering exposure to assets like Bitcoin (BTC), gold, and USD. Axis said the capital will support the development of its transparent on-chain yield infrastructure for digital assets. The round also included investors such as OKX Ventures, Maven 11 Capital, CMS Holdings, and FalconX.

Axis stated that it has invested $100 million of investor private funds through its testing platform to stress-test the protocol engine.

Source: X/@AxisFDN

PoobahAI Completes $2 Million Seed Round for No-Code Platform

PoobahAI, a startup based in Texas, helps users build tokenized Web3 networks and AI agents without coding. It has raised $2 million in seed funding to expand its no-code development platform. The company’s tools aim to enable creators, developers, and enterprises to launch on-chain ecosystems and deploy AI agents without technical expertise.

The emerging AI–Web3 ecosystem combines artificial intelligence with decentralized infrastructure, seen as a way to create more autonomous, user-controlled digital systems, allowing applications to operate without centralized oversight. The round was led by FourTwoAlpha, a venture capital firm known for early investments in Ethereum and Cosmos.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《Marsbit》
• Original title: 《VC Roundup: Big money, few deals as crypto venture funding dries up》
• Original author: Sam Bourgi, Cointelegraph
• Translation: White55, Mars Finance