Crypto Venture Weekly: June 16-22, 2025

Introduction

23 projects raised $190 million last week, led by EigenLabs ($70M) and PrismaX ($11M), while Gradient Network, Ubyx, and PublicAI advanced crypto-AI convergence. Yolo Investments launched a $115 million fund targeting blockchain, fintech, and iGaming, and Rob Hadick, Salvador Gala, and Austin Adams shared theses on stablecoins, decentralized adtech, and capital formation. Here’s a breakdown of the week’s top deals and insights.

Key Highlights

• Notable Deals: Eigen Labs ($70M), PrismaX ($11M), Ubyx ($10M), Gradient Network ($10M), XFX ($9.1M), PublicAI ($8M), Project Eleven ($6M), Stackup ($4.2M), Utopia ($4M), and BitVault ($2M).
• Funds: Yolo Investments Fund II ($115M) launched.
• VC CT: Rob Hadick outlines how stablecoins could disintermediate the legacy payments stack; Salvador Gala explores blockchain’s potential to redesign digital advertising infrastructure; and Austin Adams proposes crypto-inspired auction models to improve IPO price discovery and capital access.

Notable Deals

23 projects collectively raised $190 million last week. Here are ten that stood out:

Eigen Labs

• The Pitch: An engineering and research organization building EigenCloud and advancing core protocols like EigenLayer and EigenDA
• Round: $70 million Private Token Sale
• Investor: a16z crypto

PrismaX

• The Pitch: A decentralized robotics intelligence platform for training foundational models in physical generative AI
• Round: $11 million Seed
• Investors: Led by a16z crypto CSX with participation from Volt Capital, Blockchain Builders Fund, Stanford Blockchain Club, and more

Ubyx

• The Pitch: Stablecoin clearing system that enables regulated banks and fintechs to redeem stablecoins at face value
• Round: $10 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Galaxy Ventures with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Founders Fund, Paxos, VanEck, LayerZero Labs, and more

Gradient Network

• The Pitch: Developing decentralized AI infrastructure for hosting, serving, and governing intelligence
• Round: $10 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Multicoin Capital and Pantera Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital, and more

XFX

• The Pitch: Building institutional infrastructure for cross-border settlement
• Round: $9.1 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Haun Ventures with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Paxos, and more

PublicAI

• The Pitch: A decentralized human layer for AI by incentivizing a global network of verified contributors to generate, validate, and guide AI outputs in real time
• Round: $8 million Series A
• Investors: MH Ventures, Taisu Ventures, Kinetic Kollective, Yield Guild Games, NEAR Foundation, IBC Group, Tykhe Block Ventures, and more

Project Eleven

• The Pitch: A quantum-ready cryptography platform securing digital assets like Bitcoin against future quantum threats
• Round: $6 million Seed
• Investors: Led by Variant and Quantonation, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Nebular, and more

Stackup

• The Pitch: An enterprise-grade platform for managing onchain business operations
• Round: $4.2 million Seed
• Investors: Led by 1kx with participation from Y Combinator, Digital Currency Group, and more

Utopia

• The Pitch: A launchpad and discovery platform for Web3 games
• Round: $4 million Pre-Seed
• Investors: Led by Pantera Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Spartan Group, Vessel Capital, Arche Fund, and more

BitVault

• The Pitch: Issuing a BTC‑collateralized stablecoin (bvUSD) and a staked version (sbvUSD) with yield from BTC‑derivative strategies
• Round: $2 million Pre-Seed
• Investors: GSR, Gemini Frontier Fund, New Form Capital, Re7 Capital, Keyrock, and more

Funds

Yolo Investments Fund II – $115M

Yolo Investments closed its €100 million ($115 million) Fund II, equally split between external capital and a commitment from Yolo Group, to support early-stage companies across iGaming, fintech, and blockchain. Fund II has already invested in 12 companies, including Kraken, Syfe, Mesh, and BoomFi, and plans to make 10 additional investments over the next year. The fund brings together 23 strategic LPs and builds on Yolo’s prior track record of backing sector-specific disruptors.

VC CT: What the VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter

Rob Hadick (Dragonfly Capital)

• Argued that stablecoins will not just modernize existing payment systems, but collapse the traditional payments stack by enabling direct, programmable money movement through stablecoin-native infrastructure.

Salvador Gala (Escape Velocity)

• Published a crypto x adtech thesis exploring how blockchain concepts like mempools, proposer-builder separation, and cross-chain MEV can help re-architect digital advertising infrastructure to be more transparent, efficient, and interoperable.

Austin Adams (Variant)

• Shared a capital formation thesis highlighting how crypto-native auction models could improve price discovery, reduce IPO underpricing, and modernize the way new companies access public markets.

Quick Recap

• Total Deals: 23
• Total Raised: $190M
• Acquisitions: 0
• New Funds: Yolo Investments Fund II – $115M

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

Powered by Messari, our comprehensive fundraising dashboard allows you to navigate 18,200 crypto venture rounds, over 1,100 M&A deals, and access profiles for 16,700 investors.