Crypto Venture Weekly: July 28-August 1, 2025

Introduction

26 projects raised $322 million this week, led by RD Technologies ($40M), Billions ($30M), and Stable ($28M). ETHZilla and FG Nexus revealed large-scale ETH treasury strategies, while Strategy completed a $2.52 billion IPO to acquire over 21,000 BTC. On Crypto Twitter, Scott Kominers urged protocols to activate fee switches earlier, Bridget Harris forecasted a UX-driven DeFi surge, and Paul Veradittakit emphasized Ethereum’s institutional role. Here’s the breakdown of this week’s top deals and insights.

Key Highlights

• Notable Deals: RD Technologies ($40M), Billions ($30M), Stable ($28M), Subzero Labs ($20M), Subzero Labs ($20M), Zodia Markets ($18.25M), KAIO ($11M), Manifold Labs ($10.5M), STON.fi ($9.5M), Due ($7.3M), TACEO ($5.5M).
• Digital Asset Treasuries: Strategy ($2.52B for BTC), ETHZilla ($425M for ETH), and FG Nexus ($200M for ETH).
• VC CT: Scott Kominers warned protocols not to delay or underprice fee switches; Bridget Harris predicted a larger DeFi wave powered by consumer-grade UX; and Paul Veradittakit positioned Ethereum as foundational infrastructure for institutional digital assets.

Notable Deals

26 projects collectively raised $322 million last week. Here are the ten that stood out:

RD Technologies

• The Pitch: Stablecoin infrastructure provider developing HKDR, a stablecoin backed 1:1 by the Hong Kong dollar
• Round: $40 million Series A
• Investors: Matrixport Ventures, Hivemind Capital, HongShan, Immutable Capital, Radiant Venture Capital, and more

Billions

• The Pitch: A mobile-first identity network verifying humans and AI
• Round: $30 million funding
• Investors: Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Polygon, Bitkraft Ventures, and more

Stable

• The Pitch: An L1 blockchain built for stablecoins, using USDT for gas
• Round: $28 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Bitfinex and Hack VC, with participation from Mirana Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Nascent, KuCoin Ventures, Franklin Templeton, and more

Subzero Labs

• The Pitch: Developing Rialo, a RISC-V-based blockchain built for internet-scale decentralized applications
• Round: $20 million funding
• Investors: Led by Pantera Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Variant, Fabric Ventures, Mysten Labs, and more

Zodia Markets

• The Pitch: A digital asset platform enabling institutional capital through stablecoins
• Round: $18.25 million Series A
• Investors: Led by Pharsalus Capital, with participation from Circle Ventures, Token Bay Capital, Human Capital, The Operating Group, and more

KAIO

• The Pitch: Formerly known as Libre Capital, KAIO is a protocol purpose-built for real-world assets (RWAs)
• Round: $11 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Laser Digital and WebN Group, with participation from Brevan Howard, Lyrik Ventures, and Further Ventures

Manifold Labs

• The Pitch: A platform that delivers decentralized AI infrastructure and compute via Targon on networks like Bittensor
• Round: $10.5 million Series A
• Investors: Led by OSS Capital with participation from Digital Currency Group, Tobi Lutke, Jacob Steeves, Ala Shaabana, and more

STON.fi

• The Pitch: A decentralized exchange (DEX) and DeFi protocol suite on TON
• Round: $9.5 million Series A
• Investors: Led by Ribbit Capital and CoinFund

Due

• The Pitch: A payments platform enabling borderless virtual accounts, instant global transfers, and stablecoin and fiat rails in over 80 markets
• Round: $7.3 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Speedinvest with participation from Fabric Ventures, Strobe Ventures, Semantic Ventures, and more

TACEO

• The Pitch: A privacy-focused compute layer that enables encrypted data processing using MPC and ZK
• Round: $5.5 million
• Investors: Led by Archetype VC with participation from a16z CSX, Polymorphic Capital, cyber.Fund, and more

Digital Asset Treasuries

In recent months, onchain treasury activity has accelerated, with corporate and structured vehicles increasingly accumulating tokens at scale. Here are notable examples from the past week:

Strategy

• The Pitch: Strategy (Nasdaq: MTSR) utilized net proceeds from the offering to acquire 21,021 bitcoins at an average purchase price of approximately $117,256 per bitcoin.
• Round: $2.52 billion STRC stock Initial Public Offering (IPO)

ETHZilla

• The Pitch: 180 Life Sciences Corp. (Nasdaq: ATNF) announced plans to rebrand to ETHZilla and adopt an ETH treasury.
• Round: $425 million private investment in public equity (PIPE)
• Investors: Polychain Capital, GSR, Electric Capital, Robert Leshner, Sreeram Kannan, Sam Kazemian, and more

FG Nexus

• The Pitch: Fundamental Global (Nasdaq: FGF) rebranded to FG Nexus and plans to use the net proceeds from the raise to launch an ETH treasury strategy.
• Round: $200 million
• Investors: Digital Currency Group, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Hivemind Capital, Syncracy Capital, and more

VC CT: What VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter

Scott Kominers (a16z crypto)

• Outlined how blockchain protocols can use fee switches to sustainably monetize once network effects and user value are strong enough, cautioning that many wait too long or undercharge.

Bridget Harris (Founders Fund)

• Predicted that the next wave of DeFi adoption will surpass previous cycles in scale, driven by consumer-friendly frontends that abstract away direct onchain interaction.

Paul Veradittakit (Pantera Capital)

• Highlighted Ethereum’s emerging role as the core infrastructure for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and institutional finance, driven by regulatory clarity, digital asset treasuries, and Ethereum Foundation reforms.

Quick Recap

• Total Deals: 26
• Total Raised: $322M
• Digital Asset Treasuries: $3.15B
• 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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