Fundraising

Crypto Venture Weekly: March 9-13, 2026

Introduction

18 projects raised $220 million this week, led by KAST ($80M) and Cryptio ($45M), while Strategy and Bitmine announced over $1.4 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum treasury purchases. Jito acquired SolanaFloor, Meta acquired Moltbook, PolyGun acquired Polymarket Analytics, Paribu acquired Clave, and Metaplanet launched a $25 million Bitcoin-focused venture fund. On Crypto Twitter, Shayon Sengupta argued that Internet Labor Markets will drive the next wave of adoption, Arthur Hayes highlighted the role of speculation and reflexivity in crypto markets, and Jay Yu outlined an AI-native financial stack built on crypto infrastructure.

Key Highlights

Notable Deals

18 projects collectively raised $220 million this week. Here are the nine that stood out:

KAST

Cryptio

Zcash Open Development Lab

Unitas

VeryAI

Kled AI

Nebula3

  • The Pitch: Multichain GameFi platform adapting Web2 indie games into Web3 titles
  • Round: $5.4 million Strategic
  • Investors: Immutable, Kaia, Starknet, XFounders, and more

Ark Labs

OP_NET

Digital Asset Treasuries

Strategy

  • The Pitch: Strategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) purchased 17,994 BTC for ~$1.28 billion at an average price of ~$70,946 per bitcoin. The acquisition increased the company’s total holdings to 738,731 BTC, acquired for approximately $56.04 billion at an average cost basis of ~$75,862 per bitcoin.
  • Round: ~$1.28 billion Bitcoin purchase
  • Investors: Public market investors

Bitmine

  • The Pitch: Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) purchased 60,976 ETH for ~$120 million, increasing its total holdings to over 4.5 million ETH, worth more than $9 billion. The firm continues to accumulate ETH despite an estimated unrealized loss of ~$7.8 billion on its position, citing signals that the market may be nearing the end of a “mini-crypto winter.”
  • Round: ~$120 million ETH purchase
  • Investors: Public market investors

M&A Activity

Jito acquired SolanaFloor

Jito Foundation acquired SolanaFloor, a Solana-focused news and research platform that previously announced plans to wind down operations in February 2026 following an exploit tied to its parent organization. Under the acquisition, SolanaFloor will resume operations while maintaining full editorial independence over its reporting, research, and coverage priorities. The move restores an independent source of journalism and onchain analytics within the Solana ecosystem, with Jito positioning the acquisition as support for ecosystem infrastructure and community public goods as institutional adoption of Solana continues to grow.

Meta acquired Moltbook

Meta acquired Moltbook, an AI-agent social network that gained rapid viral traction after users discovered that many of its posts were generated by autonomous AI personas interacting with one another. Founded as an experimental platform for AI-driven social interaction, Moltbook allowed users to create and deploy agents that could post, comment, and build followings autonomously. The acquisition signals Meta’s growing focus on agent-based social experiences and AI-native content ecosystems, with Moltbook’s technology expected to inform future experiments in automated communities and AI-driven engagement across Meta’s platforms.

PolyGun acquired Polymarket Analytics

PolyGun acquired Polymarket Analytics, a leading data and intelligence platform covering prediction markets across Polymarket and Kalshi. The platform tracks more than 2.3 million traders, over 183,000 markets, and nearly 120 million positions, providing deep insights into trading behavior and market sentiment. The acquisition will integrate Polymarket Analytics’ data pipeline directly into PolyGun’s copy trading platform, enabling users to mirror top-performing traders with access to advanced analytics on win rates, market dynamics, and trader strategies.

Paribu acquired Clave

Paribu, a Turkish digital asset platform, acquired Clave, a Web3 wallet and developer infrastructure platform, to expand its onchain financial services and accelerate the adoption of DeFi. Through the acquisition, Paribu plans to integrate Clave’s smart wallet technology and account abstraction infrastructure to provide users with easier access to onchain applications and digital asset services.

Newly Launched Funds

Metaplanet Ventures – $25M

Metaplanet launched a $25 million venture arm, Metaplanet Ventures, to invest in early-stage startups building on Bitcoin and related infrastructure in Japan. The initiative aims to support companies developing Bitcoin-focused technologies such as mining, financial services, and infrastructure while strengthening Japan’s role in the global Bitcoin ecosystem. Through this venture arm, Metaplanet plans to provide capital and strategic support to founders, positioning itself as a regional hub for Bitcoin innovation and entrepreneurship.

VC CT: What VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter

Shayon Sengupta (Multicoin Capital)

  • Argued that the next wave of crypto adoption will come from earning tokens through work rather than buying them, with Internet Labor Markets coordinating global contributors who complete tasks and receive onchain compensation.

Arthur Hayes (Maelstrom)

  • Highlighted the role of speculation and reflexivity in crypto markets, where attention, social momentum, and community belief can drive token valuations well ahead of underlying utility.

Jay Yu (Pantera Capital)

  • Proposed an AI financial stack built on crypto, consisting of agent identity systems, liquidity rails for micro-transactions, cryptographic security guardrails, and app marketplaces where agents discover and pay for services.

Quick Recap

  • Total Deals: 18
  • Total Raised: $220M
  • Digital Asset Treasuries: $1.4B
  • Acquisitions: 4
  • Newly Launched Funds: $25M

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.

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Outline
  • Introduction
  • Key Highlights
  • Notable Deals
  • Digital Asset Treasuries
  • M&A Activity
  • Newly Launched Funds
  • VC CT: What VCs are saying on Crypto Twitter
  • Quick Recap
Authors
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.
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