Crypto Venture Weekly: March 2-6, 2026

Introduction

20 projects raised $202 million this week, led by ARQ ($60M) and Crossover Markets ($31M), while Strategy, Bitmine, and ProCap Financial announced $333 million in digital asset treasury purchases. Predict.fun acquired Probable and Bitcoin Depot acquired Kutt, and on Crypto Twitter Alana Levin discussed public venture funds as a vehicle for retail exposure to private companies, Nick Tomaino highlighted growth across prediction markets and stablecoin neobanks, and Felipe Montealegre argued that permissionless MetaDAO launches could reshape startup fundraising.

Key Highlights

• Notable Deals: ARQ ($60M), Crossover Markets ($31M), USD.AI ($19.4M), QFEX ($9.5M), Cyclops ($8M), Utexo ($7.5M), Akave ($3.2M), and MarsCat ($3M).
• Digital Asset Treasuries: Strategy ($204M for BTC), Bitmine ($98M for ETH), and ProCap Financial ($31M for BTC).
• M&A Activity: Predict.fun acquired Probable, and Bitcoin Depot acquired Kutt.
• VC CT: Alana Levin explored structures for retail access to private markets through public venture funds; Nick Tomaino highlighted growth in prediction markets and stablecoin neobanks in 1confirmation’s LP letter; and Felipe Montealegre argued that permissionless MetaDAO launches could reshape startup fundraising.

Notable Deals

20 projects collectively raised $202 million this week. Here are the eight that stood out:

ARQ

• The Pitch: LATAM-based stablecoin financial app serving 2+ million customers
• Round: $60 million funding
• Investors: Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund

Crossover Markets

• The Pitch: An electronic communication network (ECN) for crypto trading
• Round: $31 million Series B at a $200 million valuation
• Investors: Led by Tradeweb with participation from Wintermute, DRW Venture Capital, Illuminate Financial, Ripple, and more

USD.AI

• The Pitch: An onchain credit protocol that finances GPU-backed, stablecoin-denominated loans
• Round: $19.4 million Public Token Sale
• Investors: Public market participants

QFEX

• The Pitch: Exchange offering 24/7 trading of RWAs, with up to 50x leverage
• Round: $9.5 million Seed
• Investors: Led by General Catalyst and Yuri Sagalov, with participation from Y Combinator, Nexus Venture Partners, Paul Graham, and more

Cyclops

• The Pitch: Platform enabling payment service providers (PSPs) to offer crypto and stablecoin capabilities
• Round: $8 million Strategic
• Investors: Castle Island Ventures, F-Prime Capital, and Shift4

Utexo

• The Pitch: Bringing USDT natively to Bitcoin
• Round: $7.5 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Big Brain Holdings, Tether, and Portal Ventures, with participation from Maven 11 Capital, KuCoin Ventures, Alchemy, Ethereal Ventures, Franklin Templeton Ventures, and more

Akave

• The Pitch: Decentralized cloud storage
• Round: $3.2 million Seed
• Investors: Big Brain Holdings, Avalanche Foundation, Filecoin, and No Limit Holdings

MarsCat

• The Pitch: Privacy-first, P2P-based decentralized communication network
• Round: $3 million Strategic
• Investors: Animoca Brands, Cogitent Ventures, Cryptogram Venture (CGV), Becker Ventures, TBV, and more

Digital Asset Treasuries

Strategy

• The Pitch: Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) purchased 3,015 BTC for ~$204.1 million at an average price of ~$67,700 per coin. The acquisition lifted the company’s total holdings to 720,737 BTC, acquired for approximately $54.77 billion at an average cost basis of ~$75,985 per bitcoin. Strategy now controls over 3.4% of Bitcoin’s 21 million supply cap.
• Round: ~$204.1 million Bitcoin purchase
• Investors: Public market investors

Bitmine

• The Pitch: Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) purchased ~51,000 ETH for approximately $98 million, increasing its total holdings to 4,473,587 ETH. The firm’s ether treasury is valued at roughly $9.9 billion in combined crypto and cash holdings, with 3,040,483 ETH currently staked. Bitmine’s ether position represents ~3.71% of Ethereum’s total supply.
• Round: ~$98 million ETH purchase
• Investors: Public market investors

ProCap Financial

• The Pitch: ProCap Financial (NYSE: BRR), the Bitcoin treasury firm led by Anthony Pompliano, purchased 450 BTC for approximately $31 million, bringing its total holdings to 5,457 BTC valued at roughly $376 million. Alongside the purchase, the firm continued executing its share repurchase program, buying back 782,408 shares of its common stock (BRR) over the past 10 days for about $2.2 million.
• Round: ~$31 million Bitcoin purchase
• Investors: Public market investors

M&A Activity

Predict.fun acquired Probable

Predict.fun acquired Probable, an onchain prediction platform originally incubated by PancakeSwap and YZi Labs, to strengthen its technology stack and expand its presence within the BNB Chain ecosystem. Since launching in December 2025, Predict.fun has processed $1.5 billion in cumulative trading volume across more than 120,000 users. The acquisition brings Probable’s team and technology in-house to accelerate improvements in market architecture, execution efficiency, and capital optimization, while also expanding Predict.fun’s reach among Asian user communities. Probable users will be migrated to Predict.fun through a phased transition with incentives for early participants.

Bitcoin Depot acquired Kutt

Bitcoin Depot acquired Kutt, a P2P social betting platform that enables users to wager directly against one another on customizable events across sports, entertainment, and user-generated markets. Founded in 2022, Kutt removes the traditional sportsbook “house” by allowing users to define and agree on their own betting terms. The acquisition marks Bitcoin Depot’s entry into the social betting market and reflects a broader strategy to diversify beyond its core Bitcoin ATM business. Kutt will continue operating under its existing brand and leadership while leveraging Bitcoin Depot’s resources to support product development and user growth.

VC CT: What VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter

Alana Levin (Variant)

• Discussed emerging vehicles for giving retail investors exposure to private companies, highlighting publicly traded venture funds as a potential structure for accessing baskets of late-stage private assets.

Nick Tomaino (1confirmation)

• Released 1confirmation’s Q1 2026 LP Letter, highlighting strong growth in prediction markets and stablecoin-enabled neobanks while reiterating a long-term bullish view on credibly neutral assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Felipe Montealegre (Theia)

• Argued that permissionless MetaDAO launches could reshape startup fundraising by enabling rapid capital formation, early market accountability, and smaller-scale venture outcomes through liquid, community-backed funding.

Quick Recap

• Total Deals: 20
• Total Raised: $202M
• Digital Asset Treasuries: $333M
• Acquisitions: 3
• Newly Launched Funds: 0

That’s a wrap for this week’s Crypto Venture Weekly. Thanks for tuning in, and see you next week!

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