Crypto VC funding rose to $5.11M in October, led by Kalshi and Tempo funding rounds

October ended with another peak result in VC crypto funding. For the past month, a total of $5.11M in reported deals flowed into crypto projects. 

In October, crypto VC deals expanded again, reaching $5.11M for all funding announced before the end of the month. The final result may be even higher after all deals are disclosed. 

October became the second-best month for VC deals since March 2025, which achieved $5.79B. The past month was also the second-best since 2022. The USA was once again the leader in terms of the biggest deals, with $2.26B in funding for the past month. Undisclosed international deals made up $1.63B. 

For the past year, VC funding returned with a new framework, as companies invested more in late-stage projects, instead of early platforms. VC funds were also more wary about launching low-float tokens, as the 2021-2022 cycle showed those assets underperformed. 

In total, 127 rounds were closed in the past month, as investment activity returned to normal levels after months of below-average interest. 

Coinbase Ventures leads October’s crypto funding rounds

Coinbase Ventures was the leader with the biggest participation in funding rounds. The fund led 10 deals for the past month, followed by Yzi Labs with five deals. One of the biggest deals for the month was for Echo, a $375M round for the project founded by crypto influencer Jordan Fish (@Cobie). 

The other prominent deal for the past month was a $300M round for Kalshi, the rapidly rising prediction market platform. Additionally, Coinbase Ventures supported a series of smaller deals between $5M and $20M. 

In October, Kalshi and Tempo were the biggest deals for the month, boosting the score to a new range. Bigger late-stage funding kept expanding in the past few months. Average rounds were still in the $3M- $10M range. 

Funding activity shifted, with AI deals taking up 32% of all activity. Binance Alpha projects made up over 15% of all deals. Other areas of interest include RWA, payments, and developer tools. NFTs and gaming have practically disappeared from funding rounds, pushing back the influence of Animoca Brands. 

Token sales return, raising over $7B

Token sales in the form of ICO and IDO deals also grew in October, breaking above $7B, slightly lower than September’s results of $7.15B. The high valuation included private rounds, which were much higher compared to public sales. In total, 177 private placements for tokens happened in October. 

Public rounds were more sluggish, with just 61 events raising around $94M. Retail has a much smaller influence on fundraising, and most of the deals come from funds, whales, or angel investors. For retail, airdrops and point farming have replaced some of the token sale activities. 

In 2025 to date, Binance Wallet offers and token sales have had the highest returns, at 1,364% on average. Binance Wallet replaced PancakeSwap as one of the main token distribution venues. 

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