28 projects raised $350 million this week, led by RedotPay ($107M) and Fuse Energy ($70M), while Strategy and American Bitcoin Corp disclosed over $1.4 billion in new Bitcoin treasury allocations. Circle acquired the Interop Labs team behind Axelar, and Anchorage Digital acquired Hedgey to expand token lifecycle infrastructure, as deal activity concentrated around payments, DePIN, and structured yield. On Crypto Twitter, Dougie DeLuca and Santiago R. Santos argued crypto’s next phase is as invisible infrastructure embedded in real-world products, while Tommy Hang highlighted onchain perp DEXs as an early but durable category as derivatives volume migrates onchain.
M&A Activity: Circle acquired the team behind Axelar, and Anchorage Digital acquired Hedgey.
VC CT: Dougie DeLucaargued that crypto’s next phase is invisible infrastructure embedded in real-world products; Santiago R Santossuggested adoption can grow even if prices stagnate as value accrues to integrated businesses; and Tommy Hangframed onchain perpetual DEXs as an early but durable category with room for multiple winners as derivatives move onchain.
Notable Deals
28 projects collectively raised $350 million this week. Here are the ten that stood out:
The Pitch: Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) disclosed a purchase of 10,645 BTC for ~$980 million. The purchase was primarily funded through at-the-market equity offerings, with the majority of the funds raised through common stock issuance. The transaction brings Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to ~671,300 BTC.
Round: ~$980 million BTC purchase
Investors: Public market investors
American Bitcoin
The Pitch: American Bitcoin Corp (Nasdaq: ABTC), co-founded by Eric Trump, added 54 BTC, bringing total holdings to 5,098 BTC (worth just under $450 million at ~$87,600/BTC).
Round: 54 BTC purchase
Investors: Public market investors
M&A Activity
Circle acquired Interop Labs
Circleacquired the Interop Labs team and their proprietary intellectual property to strengthen its cross-chain infrastructure strategy. Expected to close in early 2026, the deal aims to accelerate Circle’s interoperability roadmap for Arc and CCTP, focusing on multichain developer tools and native applications. While Circle absorbs the team and technology, the Axelar Network, Foundation, and AXL token will remain independent under community governance; open-source components will stay public, and Common Prefix will assume Interop Labs’ prior network activities.
Anchorage Digital acquired Hedgey
Anchorage Digital launched a full-stack token management platform built on its acquisition and integration of Hedgey’s cap table and token vesting technology. The solution lets protocols manage allocations, vesting, lockups, and distributions from a single dashboard, replacing spreadsheet-based pre-TGE workflows with automated onboarding. Post-launch protocols can execute secure token distributions directly from Anchorage Digital’s institutional custody
Argued crypto’s next phase is becoming invisible infrastructure, with blockchains embedded into real-world products rather than a closed crypto-native ecosystem.
Suggested adoption will continue to rise even if prices remain stagnant for years, as crypto becomes invisible infrastructure and value shifts to businesses that integrate it into real-world workflows.
Framed onchain perp DEXs as early in a durable category, with room for multiple winners and significant upside as infrastructure matures and offchain derivatives volume migrates onchain.
Quick Recap
Total Deals: 28
Total Raised: $350M
Digital Asset Treasuries: $1.4B
Acquisitions: 2
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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Jake is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Research team. He previously worked as an Investment Analyst at an AI-driven crypto research platform and as a Venture Analyst at a digital assets venture fund. He advised multiple RWA tokenization projects on tokenomics. Jake graduated from the University of Southern California, where he studied Philosophy and Finance.
Alice is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Services team. She previously worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and was an Investment Intern at Variant Fund. Alice graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied Economics.
Jake is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Research team. He previously worked as an Investment Analyst at an AI-driven crypto research platform and as a Venture Analyst at a digital assets venture fund. He advised multiple RWA tokenization projects on tokenomics. Jake graduated from the University of Southern California, where he studied Philosophy and Finance.
Alice is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Services team. She previously worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and was an Investment Intern at Variant Fund. Alice graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied Economics.
