Venture capital funding in the crypto industry has recently displayed the kind of enthusiasm you’d expect from a depressed slug at a lettuce parade. Some firms look at new funds with about as much energy as a cat in the sun, and as Sarah Austin (co-founder of RWA platform Titled, and likely an expert in herding caffeinated squirrels) points out, even raising a $1.3 million seed round is starting to resemble Olympic-level pole vaulting — but with flaming poles and the bar set somewhere above Everest.
Even with financial headwinds sharper than a Vogon’s wit, “Blockchain infrastructure remains the lead story in the crypto space,” said Kaden Stadelmann, CTO at Komodo Platform and possible secret agent for the Intergalactic Trading Federation. According to him, the current obsessions—AI, DePIN, tokenization, payments and RWAs—attract funding like towels attract hitchhikers, especially when nobody really understands the towel’s purpose but suspects it’s somehow crucial.
In June, notable funding deals (the sort that make crypto investors’ hearts go pitter-patter or, occasionally, splutter-pop) let everyone know DeFi, trading platforms, pre-seed growth funds, and all things involving digital assets wedged awkwardly into AI are still bathing in cash, even if the water’s chilly.
This latest VC Roundup gleefully examines these deals against that cosmic seasonal volatility—otherwise known as ‘summer holidays’—which may reduce dealmaking to a trickle. Or possibly a single tear.
Kraken-backed Rails goes live following $20M funding
Rails, a crypto exchange that thinks being ‘rails’ is much more impressive than just being ‘train tracks,’ has materialized from the quantum void with $20 million across two rounds. The latest was completed in April, possibly while everyone else was distracted by AI-generated memes. Rails’ cunning gambit? Blending the shiny features of centralized exchanges with the comforting mystery of decentralized markets, so you get the best of both worlds and, presumably, the existential dread of neither.
Supported by luminaries like Kraken, Slow Ventures, Quantstamp (and, for all we know, Zaphod Beeblebrox on alternate Thursdays), Rails calls itself a “hybrid perpetual exchange that gives professional traders the speed of a CEX without giving up custody,” thus promising you pancakes and letting you keep your syrup.
Castle Ventures leads $7M Beam fundraise
Beam, the galactically ambitious stablecoin payment service, just closed a $7 million round to turbocharge compliance and network muscle. The mission? To bridge digital assets with traditional finance — although nobody is quite sure what’s on the other side, or if there’ll be tea when they arrive. With Castle Ventures, Bankless Ventures, Archetype, Arca, Verda Ventures and friends in tow, Beam is already beaming (sorry) through Visa Direct, Mastercard Send, and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s FedNow system. Hitch a ride if you see one.
With this, Beam’s war chest hits $14 million, the stuff of legend in certain lesser galaxies. Their plan: expand into Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the EU, presumably searching for signs of intelligent banking life.
Frachtis debuts $20M crypto-native fund
Frachtis, the new fund launched by Xavier Meegan (ex-Chorus One, not to be confused with The Phantom of the Blockchain), has set aside a flamboyant $20 million for pre-seed crypto startups, thanks to backing from Theta Capital, RockawayX, and some celestial observers. They’ve already jammed money into eight projects, most somewhere between DeFi and AI, giving new meaning to “throwing digital spaghetti at the blockchain to see what sticks.”
Meegan, citing his experience herding investments at Chorus One, is now on the hunt for the next ‘big use case.’ Good luck, Xavier. If you find it, try not to drop it.
Interface Labs gets funding to build a cryptographic trust layer for AI agents
Web3 developer Inference Labs, not to be confused with those people who think AI agents are plotting to steal their fridge magnets, has picked up $6.3 million to build a cryptographic trust layer for AI. Apparently, this field is “underdeveloped,” much like the plotlines of most daytime soap operas. Backers include DACM, Delphi Ventures, Arche Capital, and Lvna Capital.
Their new toy, Proof of Inference, seeks to check if your AI’s answers aren’t actually written by a goldfish using zero-knowledge proofs. This technology ensures nobody can see what’s happening, nor understand why it’s important, but rest assured: privacy is maximized and everyone is Very Serious.
Inference Labs launched a testnet with EigenLayer and Bittensor. Mainnet coming Q3, unless the AI unionizes for better data snacks.
Pantera Capital, Multicoin Capital lead Gradient Network seed round
Gradient Network, a mysterious force plotting to decentralize AI on Solana (because why not?), nabbed $10 million in seed cash from Pantera, Multicoin Capital, and HSG. This will expand Gradient’s AI infrastructure enough to impress even Arthur Dent, with their protocol Lattica launching in June unless the Heart of Gold stops by for tea.
They’re also building Parallax, an inference engine promising to scale AI models far beyond the reaches of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Solana, apparently, was a selling point for investors. Must’ve been the low-latency pan galactic gargle blasters.
OKX and Story launch $10M innovation fund
In a plot twist nobody saw coming, crypto exchange OKX and programmable blockchain Story announced a $10 million fund aimed at making intellectual property more programmable than a BBC radio drama. Funds are doled via IP token—because who doesn’t want to own a certified blockchain sliver of Beethoven’s 9th or the expression on Schrödinger’s cat?
Story’s developer, PIP Labs, snagged $80 million last August (co-led by a16z Crypto and Polychain, heroes of every epic funding saga), for a running total of $140 million. Expect further chaos as IP meets AI and programmable assets. The lawyers will be delighted!
a16z leads $33M seed round in Yupp
a group so eclectic that if they threw a party, half the guests wouldn’t show up, and the other half would auto-compound your drinks.
The DeFi sector may be ‘recovering’ (in the sense that a Vogon recovers from a poetry reading), but TVL remains below all-time highs. Hope springs eternal, or at least until the next bear market.
Units Network secures $10M from Nimbus Capital
Units Network, running on the Waves protocol and determined to solve scalability before anyone else realizes it’s a problem, scored $10 million from Nimbus Capital (with assistance from In On Capital, who are rumored to count their assets with sci-fi abacuses). The money’s earmarked for validator expansion, crosschain liquidity rails, and the world’s first AI roadmap that doesn’t immediately reroute you to page 42.
Nimbus Capital, incidentally, sits atop $1.2 billion in assets—enough digital cash to buy a small moon or at least a Starbucks franchise on Mars.
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2025-07-06 21:00