Crypto Venture Weekly: Feb. 23-27, 2026

Introduction

17 projects raised $269 million this week, led by Whop’s $200 million strategic round at a $1.6 billion valuation and STS Digital’s $30 million raise, while Strategy and Antelope Enterprise Holdings added a combined $41 million to their Bitcoin treasuries. On Crypto Twitter, Meltem Demirors cautioned that institutional adoption risks becoming a TradFi AUM expansion strategy, Ray Dalio framed markets through long-term debt and capital market “Big Cycles,” and Haseeb Qureshi shared lessons on building Dragonfly through differentiated edge, disciplined execution, and non-consensus conviction.

Key Highlights

• Notable Deals: Whop ($200M), STS Digital ($30M), JPYC ($11.9M), t54 ($5M), Bluprynt ($4.25M), Finrob ($3.9M), Power Protocol ($3M), TBD ($3M), and Kash ($2M).
• Digital Asset Treasuries: Strategy ($39.8M for BTC) and AEHL ($1M for BTC).
• VC CT: Meltem Demirors warned that institutional adoption risks turning crypto into a TradFi fee stream; Ray Dalio framed markets through long-term debt and capital market “Big Cycles”; and Haseeb Qureshi shared lessons on building Dragonfly through edge, discipline, and non-consensus conviction.

Notable Deals

17 projects collectively raised $269 million this week. Here are the nine that stood out:

Whop

• The Pitch: A marketplace that lets creators sell digital products
• Round: $200 million Strategic at a $1.6 billion valuation
• Investors: Led by Tether

STS Digital

• The Pitch: An institutional digital asset trading firm
• Round: $30 million Strategic
• Investors: Led by CMT Digital with participation from Strobe Ventures, Arrington Capital, F-Prime Capital, Bitrock Capital, and Kraken Ventures

JPYC

• The Pitch: A regulated Japanese yen stablecoin
• Round: $11.9 million Series B
• Investors: Led by Asteria with participation from QR Investment, directX Ventures, Chugin Capital Partners, Fundnote, and more

t54

• The Pitch: An AI governance and operational assurance solutions provider
• Round: $5 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Anagram Crypto, Franklin Templeton Investments, and PL Capital, with participation from XRP Ledger, ABCDE, and more

Bluprynt

• The Pitch: A compliance tech company streamlining digital asset disclosures
• Round: $4.25 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Valor Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Quona Capital, Robinhood, and more

Finrob

• The Pitch: An AI-native research platform for financial and crypto markets
• Round: $3.9 million Seed
• Investors: Maven 11 Capital, Fabric Ventures, Placeholder VC, Archetype, Node Capital, and Dispersion Capital

Power Protocol

• The Pitch: An infrastructure layer for games and consumer apps
• Round: $3 million
• Investors: Bitkraft Ventures

TBD

• The Pitch: A Solana-based prediction market protocol
• Round: $3 million Seed
• Investors: Led by CMT Digital and ParaFi with participation from Jump Crypto

Kash

• The Pitch: A social-media-native prediction markets protocol on Base
• Round: $2 million Pre-Seed
• Investors: Led by Spartan Group and Big Brain Holdings, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, MoonRock Capital, Fabric Ventures, Kosmos Ventures, and more

Digital Asset Treasuries

Strategy

• The Pitch: Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) announced its 100th bitcoin purchase, acquiring 592 BTC for ~$39.8 million at an average price of ~$67,286 per coin. Total holdings now stand at 717,722 BTC, purchased for ~$54.56 billion at an average cost of ~$76,020 per coin.BTC, acquired for ~$54.26 billion at an average cost of ~$76,052 per coin.
• Round: ~$39.8 million Bitcoin purchase
• Investors: Public market investors

Antelope Enterprise Holdings

• The Pitch: AEHL (Nasdaq: AEHL) confirmed the completion of its initial $1 million Bitcoin purchase and formally launched its long-term “Genius Plan,” focused on structured digital asset allocation, volatility management, and capital efficiency optimization. The company plans phased BTC accumulation with ongoing public disclosure of holdings.
• Round: ~$1 million Bitcoin purchase
• Investors: Public market investors

VC CT: What VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter

Meltem Demirors (Crucible Capital)

• Argued that “institutional adoption” increasingly serves as an AUM expansion strategy for TradFi, with firms capturing stablecoin yield and ETF fees, and warned that without scaling crypto-native institutions, value will continue shifting offchain.

Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates)

• Shared a chapter from his book arguing that long-term debt and capital market “Big Cycles” drive investment outcomes, urging diversification across growth, inflation, risk premiums, and discount rates to navigate late-cycle risks.

Haseeb Qureshi (Dragonfly)

• Outlined lessons from helping build Dragonfly, emphasizing that emerging VC firms need an explicit edge, aggressive fundraising, operational “dirty work,” distribution via media, and concentrated conviction in non-consensus deals.

Quick Recap

• Total Deals: 17
• Total Raised: $269M
• Digital Asset Treasuries: $41M
• Acquisitions: 0
• 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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