According to the Cryptorank Dashboard data on June 3, 2025, the Web3 industry completed 122 financing deals in May 2025, with a total financing amount of 1.92 billion dollars.
From the Top 10 projects, it can be seen that the main capital in Web3 is flowing into three major tracks: CeFi, blockchain services, and infrastructure. Large-scale mergers and PIPE investments, along with other traditional financial tools, are frequently appearing, marking an accelerated integration of Web3 and TradFi.
Financing is mainly concentrated in the CeFi ($1.29 billion) and blockchain services ($274 million) sectors, with CeFi holding an absolute dominant position, highlighting institutional investors' high focus on compliance, service capabilities, and the integration path with traditional finance.
The scale of Web3 financing is characterized by "concentration in the middle and decreasing at both ends", of which projects between US$3 million and US$10 million account for 32.9%, reflecting the convergence of market risk appetite and the preference of capital for medium-sized projects that have been preliminarily verified and have growth potential.
The distribution of rounds shows a structural characteristic of "early projects being active and funds concentrated in the mid-to-late stages." Among them, the proportion of seed and strategic round projects accounts for 64.9%, while the proportion of financing amounts in A and B rounds reaches as high as 60.9%, reflecting that the current market is in a capital allocation stage of "early exploration" and "structural betting" running in parallel.
From an institutional perspective, Alliance DAO leads the investment rankings with 6 projects, focusing on DeFi while also covering blockchain infrastructure and on-chain services, reflecting its strategic orientation that equally emphasizes finance and underlying technology.
Financing Overview
According to data released by Cryptorank on June 3, 2025, the Web3 industry completed a total of 122 financing rounds in May 2025, with a total financing amount of 1.92 billion USD. It should be noted that due to the statistical standards of Cryptorank, there is a discrepancy between this amount and the total financing amount calculated by summing individual amounts (approximately 4.83 billion USD); to ensure consistency in the data analysis in the following text, this article will uniformly use the original statistical data provided in its Dashboard.
Compared to $2.92 billion and 95 deals in April 2025, the total amount raised in May fell by 35.35% month-on-month, but the number of funds raised rebounded by 28.4%, reflecting a certain rebound in market activity. However, looking at the trend for the whole year, the total amount raised has doubled in December 2024 ($3.13 billion) and March 2025 ($5.08 billion), and in March, it hit a new monthly high, driven by large deals such as MGX Abu Dhabi's $2 billion injection into Binance and Kraken's $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader. It is worth noting that although the financing amount peaked in March 2025, the number of financing rounds has continued to decline from a high of 168 in December 2024, suggesting that the scale of single financing continues to expand, the trend of capital concentration to the top projects is becoming more and more significant, and the "Matthew effect" of the Web3 industry has been further strengthened.
After entering the second quarter, the financing market cooled significantly. After falling to $2.92 billion in April, the total fell further to $1.92 billion in May, hitting a nearly six-month low, and the number of financing rounds failed to continue the upward trend. This trend shows that the Web3 industry is entering a rational correction period after experiencing the release of capital concentration in the early stage, and investors are paying more attention to the fundamentals, compliance and sustainable growth ability of projects. In this context, the financing pressure of small and medium-sized projects has intensified, the distribution of funds tends to be conservative, and the entire market is entering a new stage of "quality first, prudent screening".
In May 2025, the Web3 financing market exhibited characteristics of high centralization and institutional dominance, with funds primarily flowing into three major tracks: CeFi, blockchain services, and infrastructure. Large mergers and acquisitions, as well as traditional financial instruments like PIPE investments, frequently emerged, marking a further integration of Web3 with TradFi (traditional finance).【2】
CeFi leads the way strongly, with huge deals dominating the market landscape: CeFi remained the most concentrated track in May, with four of the top five funding events coming from the CeFi space. Deribit topped the list with $2.9 billion in M&A deals, spearheaded by Coinbase Ventures, illustrating how traditional financial giants are accelerating their integration of crypto infrastructure. This was followed by Strive with a whopping $750 million in PIPE investment, indicating a strong market recognition of wealth management and compliant investment services; Most of these projects have the dual characteristics of "high compliance + traditional financial scalability", and have become the focus of institutional funds.
The blockchain service track is active, with multiple large financings coexisting: Infrastructure and service platforms are another key point of gold absorption. BTCS Inc., a publicly traded company, raised $57.8 million in Series B funding; Slash, a crypto asset management platform, closed a $41 million funding round led by Goodwater Capital; Doppel, an AI-driven security and risk control platform, has raised $35 million in Series B funding, backed by well-known institutions such as a16z and Bessemer. Conduit, which focuses on cross-border settlement of stablecoins, received $36 million in Series A, supported by established capital such as DCG. These financings reflect that Web3 is gradually establishing a professional service matrix in the dimensions of "enterprise-level needs" such as payment, asset management, and security risk control, attracting medium and long-term capital allocation.
Chain projects continue to gain capital: World Network secured a $135 million token private placement led by a16z and Bain Capital Crypto, the largest funding round in the infrastructure sector in May. The project's large financing shows that the long-term expectations for scalability, public chain performance, and user experience optimization remain strong, and the Chain project continues to play a key role in "infrastructure first" in the bear market.
AI Superimposes Web3 Scene Begins to Heat Up: The integration of AI and Web3 is also starting to unleash financing enthusiasm. Freysa AI, which focuses on the concept of "AI Digital Twin," has secured $30 million in a token round of financing, supported by Coinbase Ventures and Selini Capital. This marks that the intersection of AI Agents with on-chain identity, smart asset management, and other fields is becoming a potential hotspot for a new round of thematic investments.
Investment Methods and Institutional Structures are Highly Diverse: The financing in May exhibited characteristics of both traditional and new tools operating in parallel. Financial instruments such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), PIPE, debt financing, and convertible notes are frequently used, indicating that Web3 projects are becoming increasingly mature in their financing tools. At the same time, top institutions including Coinbase Ventures, a16z, Bain Capital Crypto, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCG, and Goodwater Capital are actively engaging, reflecting that the entire industry is entering a new cycle dominated by "high-quality projects + high professional capital."
According to the Cryptorank Dashboard data, in May 2025, the Web3 financing situation presents a structural pattern of "CeFi leaders + services and scalability supporting roles + emotional track marginalization." Institutional capital allocation is increasingly focused on tracks that are "low volatility, strong demand, and synergistic," indicating that the next cycle is more likely to be initiated by infrastructure and cross-sector projects involving traditional finance.
First of all, the CeFi track raised a total of $1.29 billion, almost three times as much as all the other tracks combined, and dominated the total funding of the month. This extreme concentration is largely driven by the statistical effect of Deribit's $2.9 billion M&A deal, and reflects the continued tendency of traditional financial capital to bet on centralized crypto infrastructure that is "mature, has the potential to be compliant, and can be integrated with traditional assets."
Secondly, the blockchain service track ($273.53 million) and the Layer 2 / scalability-related Chain track ($162.75 million) rank second and third in terms of financing amounts. These two tracks possess the attributes of "tool + infrastructure" and serve as the foundational pillars supporting the continuous operation and evolution of the Web3 ecosystem, demonstrating strong capital attraction even amid a cooling overall market.
Although the DeFi track has maintained a certain degree of popularity, with a total funding of $101.75 million**, there is still a huge gap compared to the volume of CeFi, reflecting that the market's focus on DeFi has gradually shifted from the brutal growth of the early days to the direction of compliance, specialization and institutionalization. At the same time, the Blockchain Infrastructure track of basic chain construction only received $47.3 million in financing, which is relatively conservative, which shows that the traditional infrastructure path still needs to verify its sustainability and differentiated competitiveness at the current stage.
It is noteworthy that the Meme track, as a newly established independent category, has secured $30.8 million in funding, indicating that the market still maintains a certain level of attention towards emerging fields with viral transmission potential and strong community drive, but its funding amount is still insufficient to shake the dominance of mainstream tracks.
GameFi ($17 million) and Social (only $450,000) financing are at a low level, especially the current situation of almost zero financing for Web3 social applications, indicating that the market risk appetite is converging, and capital is more inclined to flow to the track with higher certainty and more mature business models, while consumer applications with strong innovation but unclear profit models face greater challenges.
Overall, the distribution of Web3 financing in May 2025 highlights that institutions and large capital attach great importance to compliance, underlying infrastructure construction, and integration with traditional finance, and market investment strategies are becoming more conservative and pragmatic. At the same time, the exploration of emerging tracks such as meme and AI agent is also continuing, but it is still in a relatively marginal experimental stage and has not yet formed a dominant trend.
According to the financing data of 82 Web3 projects disclosed in May 2025, the financing scale for that month shows a distribution characteristic of "concentration in the middle segment, decreasing at both ends," reflecting that the overall market is still in a stage of converging risk appetite and cautiously investing in early projects.
Most projects of medium scale: Projects with a financing scale between 3 million and 10 million USD account for as much as 32.9%, which is the highest proportion among all ranges. This indicates that the market continues to pay close attention to projects that have completed an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or have a preliminary user base with growth potential, with medium financing (such as Pre-A to A round) becoming the mainstream choice. In the context of pressured risk assets, capital is more inclined to bet on quality projects where "the model has been validated and the valuation is still manageable."
Small-scale financing is active but relatively limited: Projects with financing amounts between 1 million and 3 million USD account for 26.8%, while small-scale financing below 1 million USD only accounts for 13.4%. Although early-stage projects can still obtain some funding support, their numbers have decreased compared to medium-scale projects, reflecting that investors are more selective about startup projects and are betting more cautiously.
Large financing projects are scarce but have a strong ability to attract money: About 32.4% of projects raised more than $10 million, of which only 7.3% were "large financing" of more than $50 million. Although the number of rounds is small, these projects tend to absorb a larger portion of the total financing funds, mainly focusing on CeFi, blockchain gaming infrastructure, or M&A-related projects. This type of hyperscale financing is more a reflection of institutions' focus on projects with high certainty or strategic synergistic value, rather than a sign of a general market recovery.
Overall, the scale structure of Web3 financing in May 2025 highlights that institutions prefer medium-sized projects in the early stage of recovery, there is still room for small-scale financing in the early stage but faces screening pressure, and the top large-scale projects are favored by capital due to their certainty and strategic value. This distribution pattern shows that the market investment decisions are becoming more mature and prudent, and the focus is more on the actual growth and commercialization prospects of the project.
According to the financing round data of 57 Web3 projects disclosed in May 2025, the number of projects and the amount of financing exhibit a structural characteristic of "early-stage projects being active, with funds concentrated in later stages," reflecting that the current market is in a capital allocation phase of "exploratory investment" and "structural betting" running in parallel.
Seed and Strategic Rounds are the Most Active: In terms of the number of funding rounds, Seed and Strategic projects account for 31.6% and 33.3% respectively, totaling up to 64.9%. This indicates that the market still maintains strong attention on early-stage projects, especially with a proactive willingness to explore potential future targets. It is noteworthy that although the number of Strategic projects is the highest, the proportion of funding amounts is only 11.6%, showing a greater focus on small, tactical investments, primarily serving ecological synergy and long-term resource integration.
Funding concentrated in Series A and B projects: Although only 21% of Series A and Series B projects were raised, the amount raised accounted for 60.9% of the total amount raised. This highly concentrated pattern reflects the positive tilt of capital towards the "less but better" strategy, and prefers to support projects that already have a clear business model, a clear growth path, and are in the accelerated expansion stage.
Pre-Seed has a relatively low but still representative share: The number of projects in the Pre-Seed stage accounts for 14%, while the funding amount accounts for 4.5%. Although it has the smallest share, it still demonstrates the market's moderate support for very early-stage innovation. Such projects are often favored by teams with strong founder backgrounds or differentiated competitive advantages, and investors are notably more cautious.
To sum up, Web3 financing in May 2025 presents a typical "K-shaped structure": on the one hand, the project distribution is active in the early and strategic rounds, and the capital continues to bet on potential rookies and ecological synergy opportunities; On the other hand, funds are significantly concentrated in mid-to-late-stage high-quality projects, reflecting that the market pays more attention to certainty returns and project maturity in an uncertain environment. On the whole, the capital style tends to be rational and hierarchical, reflecting the evolution trend of Web3 investment from fanaticism to maturity.
According to data released by Cryptorank on June 3, 2025, Alliance DAO leads numerous institutions with investments in 6 projects, mainly focusing on the DeFi (deep blue) sector, while also addressing areas such as blockchain infrastructure and on-chain services. Following closely are Selini Capital, Arbitrum Gaming, and Mirana Ventures, each having invested in 5 projects. Coinbase Ventures and Animoca Brands are also quite active, each investing in 4 projects.
From the perspective of track distribution, DeFi and blockchain services are currently the most concerned directions by institutions, appearing in most portfolios. For example, Alliance DAO, Selini Capital, and Mirana Ventures all have significant layouts in the blockchain and DeFi fields, reflecting the continuous demand for underlying infrastructure and financial services in the Web3 ecosystem. At the same time, some institutions have shown a stronger preference for vertical tracks: such as Arbitrum Gaming and Animoca Brands, their investments in the GameFi space are particularly concentrated, reflecting their existing strengths and strategic continuity in the gaming sector.
Key Financing Projects to Focus on in May
Antix
Introduction: Antix is an AI-driven platform focused on creating ultra-realistic, intelligent digital avatars that can mimic everyday interactions. Its core AIGE technology combines advanced AI with 3D tools to rapidly generate the next generation of digital humans. Antix is dedicated to bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds, empowering brands, creators, and consumers to connect in new ways through hyper-realistic digital avatars, integrating the future of decentralized digital identity and entertainment.
On May 14, Antix announced the completion of a $8.2 million private placement financing, which received support from over ten thousand community investors and aims to introduce surreal AI digital human technology into the blockchain field. [4]
Investment Institutions/Angel Investors: This financing is supported by over 10,000 ordinary users.
Highlights:
Antix is reshaping the digital human creation process with its groundbreaking GenAI technology, allowing for the creation of highly personalized emotional digital humans in just a few hours and starting at $100, reducing costs by up to 90% compared to traditional methods. Its core engine AIGE (Adaptive Intelligence for Generative Expression) can generate highly realistic, customizable digital humans from a small number of images, and can be deployed in virtual environments or minted as NFTs for diverse scenarios such as entertainment, gaming, and decentralized identity.
Antix has created a tokenized digital human ecosystem driven by the $ANTIX token, enabling creators to control and monetize their digital identity IP, including actions, clothing, language modules, and more. Each digital human is equipped with a unique NFT "passport" for identity verification, ownership rights confirmation, and providing creators with autonomous control and revenue pathways.
The platform empowers global brands and individual creators; digital humans can replace roles such as actors, event hosts, brand ambassadors, fitness coaches, and customer service agents, accelerating online content production and commercial monetization. The Beta version will be launched in the summer of 2025, with a full public test within the year.
Antix was co-founded by former Disney executive Marina Averbuch and Roman Cyganov of Vivex Studios. The team has participated in projects such as "Game of Thrones" and "World of Tanks" and has received technical recognition from industry giants like Warner Bros., EA Sports, and HBO.
Turtle Club
Introduction: Turtle Club is an innovative virtual liquidity protocol that operates without smart contracts. It aims to coordinate incentive mechanisms among core DeFi participants (including LPs, developers, VCs, security auditors, and node operators) by tracking the on-chain activities of liquidity providers (LPs) (such as providing liquidity and cross-protocol swaps) and distributing tokens from a shared treasury managed by TurtleDAO to reward LPs. The system runs off-chain and does not directly handle user funds, thus maintaining user control and reducing risk.【5】
On May 12, Turtle Club announced the completion of a $6.2 million seed round of financing led by THEIA, aimed at advancing its on-chain liquidity distribution protocol.
Investment Institutions: THEIA, SIG, Consensys, Susquehanna International Group, Laser Digital, Chorus One, etc.
Highlights:
Turtle Club is open to all Web3 users, regardless of the size of the investment. Through its deep integration with the cooperation agreement, it not only brings benefits to partners, but also creates high returns for users. Users only need to connect their wallets and continue to use the cooperation agreement, without changing their habits or making additional operations, they can track wallet activity through the platform, earn additional income from liquidity provision, staking, trading, and referrals, and achieve 7-8 times returns on top of the original liquidity.
Turtle.Club adopts a DAO governance structure that aims to reconstruct the incentive relationship between developers, liquidity providers (LPs), and investors. All transactions are executed directly through APIs and partnership agreements, without the need for smart contracts, which significantly reduces technical risk while ensuring that user funds are always under control. In addition, users can enjoy transactions on Turtle.Club that are free of management fees and performance fees, further reducing the cost of participation.
The platform never controls users' funds; all transactions are executed directly through partner agreements, ensuring that funds are always under the users' control. By trading through API instead of smart contracts, Turtle.Club minimizes the technical risks associated with smart contract vulnerabilities.
Since its launch in March 2024, the platform has demonstrated strong growth momentum, attracting over 315,000 registered wallets, guiding a total value of over $2.3 billion, and successfully integrating 51 protocols, deploying $550 million in funding within 45 days during the first round of chain guiding activities. 【7】
T-Rex
Introduction: T-Rex is a blockchain specifically designed for consumer applications, aimed at reshaping user engagement in Web3 through seamless integration with Web2 platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter). Its core product is a Chrome extension that facilitates interactive incentives while users watch videos or share content, implementing a Proof of Engagement (PoE) mechanism. [8]
On May 9, T-Rex announced the completion of a $17 million Pre-Seed funding round and established an incubation fund aimed at seamlessly rewarding online content consumers on social platforms. [9]
Investment Institutions: Portal Ventures, North Island Ventures, Framework Ventures, Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Mindful Venture Capital, Hypersphere, SNZ, Arche Fund, etc.
Highlights:
T-Rex is a groundbreaking "Attention Engine" that seamlessly introduces Web2 users to the Web3 ecosystem through an innovative Proof of Engagement (PoE) mechanism and a Chrome browser extension. It aims to incentivize users' daily online behaviors, such as watching videos, likings, and sharing, on familiar platforms such as X, TikTok, YouTube, etc., through cryptocurrency rewards, so as to convert the general audience into Web3 active participants, effectively solving the problem of Web3 traffic acquisition and user retention.
The platform's core technology lies in its privacy-preserving browser extension, which leverages zero-knowledge transport layer security (zkTLS) technology to verify information between Web2 and Web3 platforms to ensure that user privacy is not violated. Users don't need complicated blockchain knowledge or wallets, they can simply click on the "popcorn" icon that appears when watching content to accumulate points and redeem them for cryptocurrency rewards, enabling "fool-like" automatic incentives. The system will also intelligently recommend decentralized applications and content based on user preferences.
The core innovation of T-Rex lies in "not reshaping user habits, but subtly enhancing them," transforming daily online behaviors into tangible digital ownership and offline benefits. Its technology is built on the Nitro engine of Arbitrum Orbit and is supported by the Web3 product developer EVG. The protocol's decision-making is optimized for consumer use cases to ensure an efficient and smooth user experience with robust scalability.
VOYA Games
Introduction: VOYA Games is a Web3 game studio dedicated to creating easy-to-learn, fun-first games that provide players with meaningful autonomy. Their developed game, Craft World, is a casual resource management game where players collaborate with friendly dinosaurs to rebuild civilization after a meteorite wipes out humanity. The game is currently in the testnet phase, with testing expected to be completed this summer.【10】
On May 21, Voya Games announced the completion of a $5 million financing round, led by 1kx and Makers Fund. The funds raised will be used to support the development of the casual Web3 game Craft World.
Investment Institutions/Angel Investors: 1kx, Makers Fund, RockawayX, Sky Mavis co-founder Jeff 'Jihoz' Zirlin, The Sandbox Chief Operating Officer Sébastien Borget, etc.
Highlights:
VOYA Games is committed to building an ecosystem that engages players in the long term, builds loyalty and trust, and rewards creativity and engagement. Its first title, Craft World, is a free-to-play casual resource management game that has been testnet on iOS, Android, and the web, and has achieved remarkable results: more than 240,000 registered players, 50,000 monthly active users, and 1.1 million on-chain transactions. Not only does the game allow players to work with friendly dinosaurs to rebuild civilization, but it also educates players about asset ownership and trading in a fun and educational way. 【12】
What makes VOYA Games unique is the interconnected gaming ecosystem it builds, unified by the "Dyno Coin" utility token, and seamlessly integrates two NFT collections. The economy is not limited to a single game, and the items and resources earned in Craft World will carry over into future titles, including Project Voyager, a metagame based on Craft World. In Project Voyager, players earn crystals by completing in-game and social quests, which can be redeemed for Dyno Coin and built in the ecosystem, further enhancing player stickiness and virality.
VOYA Games has an experienced team led by Oliver Löffler, the developer of "Idle Miner Tycoon" (which has surpassed 100 million downloads and was acquired for a high price) and co-founder of Kolibri Games. The company's co-founders also include Florian Dreschner and Dino Erdmann, who have strong technical and creative backgrounds. Meanwhile, the studio has received strong support from leading investors in the gaming and Web3 sectors.
KYD Labs
Introduction: KYD Labs is a Web3 live event ticketing solution platform built on Solana, designed to empower artists and venues with full control over ticket sales, fan data and revenue, effectively solving the problem of revenue loss caused by secondary market circulation. It leverages blockchain technology, including smart contracts and possibly NFTs, to provide ticketing services, thereby enhancing fan engagement and creating more revenue opportunities for event organizers. 【13】
On May 14, KYD Labs announced the completion of a $7 million seed funding round, led by a16z Crypto.
Investment Institutions: a16z Crypto, Techstars, Finality Capital Partners, Ambush Capital, etc.
Highlights:
KYD Labs aims to empower artists and venues by addressing the revenue loss and data monopoly issues caused by traditional ticketing systems. It integrates ticketing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and customer acquisition functions into a single platform, streamlining operational processes and providing detailed sales performance insights, allowing users to optimize marketing efforts based on real data. KYD Labs also assigns dedicated marketing experts to each venue to assist with event management and social media promotion to expand audiences and increase ticket sales.
KYD Labs solves the problem of traditional middlemen extracting high fees and controlling customer data with a blockchain-based ticketing system that helps artists and venues increase ticket sales by up to 30% and have direct control over fan data and revenue streams. In the past year, KYD Labs has completed $4 million in ticket sales and generated more than $1 million in revenue. Its four-year exclusive ticketing partnership with renowned New York music club Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) has served more than 500,000 fans and helped LPR achieve a 30% increase in ticket sales and millions of dollars in additional revenue. 【15】
KYD Labs plans to expand its business to over 100 venues in the United States by 2026, and is committed to supporting live event commerce at major venues globally. At the same time, the platform will introduce two new protocol layers: the $KYD token for funding venues and tours, and the $TIX reward token to incentivize fan loyalty, functioning similarly to airline miles. These features are designed to enhance the financial stability of artists and venues while promoting community engagement.
Summary
In May 2025, the Web3 industry completed a total of 122 financings, with a total decline (35.35%) to $1.92 billion, while showing a highly centralized and institution-led structural characteristic. The allocation of funds is obviously biased towards the three major tracks of CeFi, blockchain services and infrastructure, among which CeFi leads the way with an absolute advantage of $1.29 billion. In terms of project size, the "mid-range concentration" (US$3 million to US$10 million, accounting for 32.9%) and the distribution characteristics of "decreasing at both ends" reflect the convergence of market risk appetite and the preference of capital for medium-sized projects that have been preliminarily verified and have growth potential. The financing round presents a K-shaped structure of "active early-stage projects (64.9% of the total of seed and strategic rounds), and concentrated funds in the middle and late stages (60.9% of the A and B rounds of financing)". Including key projects such as Antix, Turtle Club, T-Rex, VOYA Games, and KYD Labs, its innovation directions cover AI digital humans, on-chain liquidity, Web2 user introduction to Web3, and Web3 ticketing, indicating that the market continues to explore emerging technologies and application scenarios in addition to infrastructure and traditional financial cross-projects. Overall, Web3 investment is moving from frenzy to maturity, with a rational, hierarchical approach to capital, and an increasing focus on project compliance, business model clarity, and ability to connect to the real world.
Resources:
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May 2025 Web3 Financing Panorama Interpretation | CeFi Dominates, Infrastructure Services Drive Together, Compliance Becomes the New Focus of Capital
Summary
Financing Overview
According to data released by Cryptorank on June 3, 2025, the Web3 industry completed a total of 122 financing rounds in May 2025, with a total financing amount of 1.92 billion USD. It should be noted that due to the statistical standards of Cryptorank, there is a discrepancy between this amount and the total financing amount calculated by summing individual amounts (approximately 4.83 billion USD); to ensure consistency in the data analysis in the following text, this article will uniformly use the original statistical data provided in its Dashboard.
Compared to $2.92 billion and 95 deals in April 2025, the total amount raised in May fell by 35.35% month-on-month, but the number of funds raised rebounded by 28.4%, reflecting a certain rebound in market activity. However, looking at the trend for the whole year, the total amount raised has doubled in December 2024 ($3.13 billion) and March 2025 ($5.08 billion), and in March, it hit a new monthly high, driven by large deals such as MGX Abu Dhabi's $2 billion injection into Binance and Kraken's $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader. It is worth noting that although the financing amount peaked in March 2025, the number of financing rounds has continued to decline from a high of 168 in December 2024, suggesting that the scale of single financing continues to expand, the trend of capital concentration to the top projects is becoming more and more significant, and the "Matthew effect" of the Web3 industry has been further strengthened.
After entering the second quarter, the financing market cooled significantly. After falling to $2.92 billion in April, the total fell further to $1.92 billion in May, hitting a nearly six-month low, and the number of financing rounds failed to continue the upward trend. This trend shows that the Web3 industry is entering a rational correction period after experiencing the release of capital concentration in the early stage, and investors are paying more attention to the fundamentals, compliance and sustainable growth ability of projects. In this context, the financing pressure of small and medium-sized projects has intensified, the distribution of funds tends to be conservative, and the entire market is entering a new stage of "quality first, prudent screening".
In May 2025, the Web3 financing market exhibited characteristics of high centralization and institutional dominance, with funds primarily flowing into three major tracks: CeFi, blockchain services, and infrastructure. Large mergers and acquisitions, as well as traditional financial instruments like PIPE investments, frequently emerged, marking a further integration of Web3 with TradFi (traditional finance).【2】
CeFi leads the way strongly, with huge deals dominating the market landscape: CeFi remained the most concentrated track in May, with four of the top five funding events coming from the CeFi space. Deribit topped the list with $2.9 billion in M&A deals, spearheaded by Coinbase Ventures, illustrating how traditional financial giants are accelerating their integration of crypto infrastructure. This was followed by Strive with a whopping $750 million in PIPE investment, indicating a strong market recognition of wealth management and compliant investment services; Most of these projects have the dual characteristics of "high compliance + traditional financial scalability", and have become the focus of institutional funds.
The blockchain service track is active, with multiple large financings coexisting: Infrastructure and service platforms are another key point of gold absorption. BTCS Inc., a publicly traded company, raised $57.8 million in Series B funding; Slash, a crypto asset management platform, closed a $41 million funding round led by Goodwater Capital; Doppel, an AI-driven security and risk control platform, has raised $35 million in Series B funding, backed by well-known institutions such as a16z and Bessemer. Conduit, which focuses on cross-border settlement of stablecoins, received $36 million in Series A, supported by established capital such as DCG. These financings reflect that Web3 is gradually establishing a professional service matrix in the dimensions of "enterprise-level needs" such as payment, asset management, and security risk control, attracting medium and long-term capital allocation.
Chain projects continue to gain capital: World Network secured a $135 million token private placement led by a16z and Bain Capital Crypto, the largest funding round in the infrastructure sector in May. The project's large financing shows that the long-term expectations for scalability, public chain performance, and user experience optimization remain strong, and the Chain project continues to play a key role in "infrastructure first" in the bear market.
AI Superimposes Web3 Scene Begins to Heat Up: The integration of AI and Web3 is also starting to unleash financing enthusiasm. Freysa AI, which focuses on the concept of "AI Digital Twin," has secured $30 million in a token round of financing, supported by Coinbase Ventures and Selini Capital. This marks that the intersection of AI Agents with on-chain identity, smart asset management, and other fields is becoming a potential hotspot for a new round of thematic investments.
Investment Methods and Institutional Structures are Highly Diverse: The financing in May exhibited characteristics of both traditional and new tools operating in parallel. Financial instruments such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), PIPE, debt financing, and convertible notes are frequently used, indicating that Web3 projects are becoming increasingly mature in their financing tools. At the same time, top institutions including Coinbase Ventures, a16z, Bain Capital Crypto, Bessemer Venture Partners, DCG, and Goodwater Capital are actively engaging, reflecting that the entire industry is entering a new cycle dominated by "high-quality projects + high professional capital."
According to the Cryptorank Dashboard data, in May 2025, the Web3 financing situation presents a structural pattern of "CeFi leaders + services and scalability supporting roles + emotional track marginalization." Institutional capital allocation is increasingly focused on tracks that are "low volatility, strong demand, and synergistic," indicating that the next cycle is more likely to be initiated by infrastructure and cross-sector projects involving traditional finance.
First of all, the CeFi track raised a total of $1.29 billion, almost three times as much as all the other tracks combined, and dominated the total funding of the month. This extreme concentration is largely driven by the statistical effect of Deribit's $2.9 billion M&A deal, and reflects the continued tendency of traditional financial capital to bet on centralized crypto infrastructure that is "mature, has the potential to be compliant, and can be integrated with traditional assets."
Secondly, the blockchain service track ($273.53 million) and the Layer 2 / scalability-related Chain track ($162.75 million) rank second and third in terms of financing amounts. These two tracks possess the attributes of "tool + infrastructure" and serve as the foundational pillars supporting the continuous operation and evolution of the Web3 ecosystem, demonstrating strong capital attraction even amid a cooling overall market.
Although the DeFi track has maintained a certain degree of popularity, with a total funding of $101.75 million**, there is still a huge gap compared to the volume of CeFi, reflecting that the market's focus on DeFi has gradually shifted from the brutal growth of the early days to the direction of compliance, specialization and institutionalization. At the same time, the Blockchain Infrastructure track of basic chain construction only received $47.3 million in financing, which is relatively conservative, which shows that the traditional infrastructure path still needs to verify its sustainability and differentiated competitiveness at the current stage.
It is noteworthy that the Meme track, as a newly established independent category, has secured $30.8 million in funding, indicating that the market still maintains a certain level of attention towards emerging fields with viral transmission potential and strong community drive, but its funding amount is still insufficient to shake the dominance of mainstream tracks.
GameFi ($17 million) and Social (only $450,000) financing are at a low level, especially the current situation of almost zero financing for Web3 social applications, indicating that the market risk appetite is converging, and capital is more inclined to flow to the track with higher certainty and more mature business models, while consumer applications with strong innovation but unclear profit models face greater challenges.
Overall, the distribution of Web3 financing in May 2025 highlights that institutions and large capital attach great importance to compliance, underlying infrastructure construction, and integration with traditional finance, and market investment strategies are becoming more conservative and pragmatic. At the same time, the exploration of emerging tracks such as meme and AI agent is also continuing, but it is still in a relatively marginal experimental stage and has not yet formed a dominant trend.
According to the financing data of 82 Web3 projects disclosed in May 2025, the financing scale for that month shows a distribution characteristic of "concentration in the middle segment, decreasing at both ends," reflecting that the overall market is still in a stage of converging risk appetite and cautiously investing in early projects.
Overall, the scale structure of Web3 financing in May 2025 highlights that institutions prefer medium-sized projects in the early stage of recovery, there is still room for small-scale financing in the early stage but faces screening pressure, and the top large-scale projects are favored by capital due to their certainty and strategic value. This distribution pattern shows that the market investment decisions are becoming more mature and prudent, and the focus is more on the actual growth and commercialization prospects of the project.
According to the financing round data of 57 Web3 projects disclosed in May 2025, the number of projects and the amount of financing exhibit a structural characteristic of "early-stage projects being active, with funds concentrated in later stages," reflecting that the current market is in a capital allocation phase of "exploratory investment" and "structural betting" running in parallel.
To sum up, Web3 financing in May 2025 presents a typical "K-shaped structure": on the one hand, the project distribution is active in the early and strategic rounds, and the capital continues to bet on potential rookies and ecological synergy opportunities; On the other hand, funds are significantly concentrated in mid-to-late-stage high-quality projects, reflecting that the market pays more attention to certainty returns and project maturity in an uncertain environment. On the whole, the capital style tends to be rational and hierarchical, reflecting the evolution trend of Web3 investment from fanaticism to maturity.
According to data released by Cryptorank on June 3, 2025, Alliance DAO leads numerous institutions with investments in 6 projects, mainly focusing on the DeFi (deep blue) sector, while also addressing areas such as blockchain infrastructure and on-chain services. Following closely are Selini Capital, Arbitrum Gaming, and Mirana Ventures, each having invested in 5 projects. Coinbase Ventures and Animoca Brands are also quite active, each investing in 4 projects.
From the perspective of track distribution, DeFi and blockchain services are currently the most concerned directions by institutions, appearing in most portfolios. For example, Alliance DAO, Selini Capital, and Mirana Ventures all have significant layouts in the blockchain and DeFi fields, reflecting the continuous demand for underlying infrastructure and financial services in the Web3 ecosystem. At the same time, some institutions have shown a stronger preference for vertical tracks: such as Arbitrum Gaming and Animoca Brands, their investments in the GameFi space are particularly concentrated, reflecting their existing strengths and strategic continuity in the gaming sector.![]()
Key Financing Projects to Focus on in May
Antix
Introduction: Antix is an AI-driven platform focused on creating ultra-realistic, intelligent digital avatars that can mimic everyday interactions. Its core AIGE technology combines advanced AI with 3D tools to rapidly generate the next generation of digital humans. Antix is dedicated to bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds, empowering brands, creators, and consumers to connect in new ways through hyper-realistic digital avatars, integrating the future of decentralized digital identity and entertainment.
On May 14, Antix announced the completion of a $8.2 million private placement financing, which received support from over ten thousand community investors and aims to introduce surreal AI digital human technology into the blockchain field. [4]
Investment Institutions/Angel Investors: This financing is supported by over 10,000 ordinary users.
Highlights:
Turtle Club
Introduction: Turtle Club is an innovative virtual liquidity protocol that operates without smart contracts. It aims to coordinate incentive mechanisms among core DeFi participants (including LPs, developers, VCs, security auditors, and node operators) by tracking the on-chain activities of liquidity providers (LPs) (such as providing liquidity and cross-protocol swaps) and distributing tokens from a shared treasury managed by TurtleDAO to reward LPs. The system runs off-chain and does not directly handle user funds, thus maintaining user control and reducing risk.【5】
On May 12, Turtle Club announced the completion of a $6.2 million seed round of financing led by THEIA, aimed at advancing its on-chain liquidity distribution protocol.
Investment Institutions: THEIA, SIG, Consensys, Susquehanna International Group, Laser Digital, Chorus One, etc.
Highlights:
T-Rex
Introduction: T-Rex is a blockchain specifically designed for consumer applications, aimed at reshaping user engagement in Web3 through seamless integration with Web2 platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter). Its core product is a Chrome extension that facilitates interactive incentives while users watch videos or share content, implementing a Proof of Engagement (PoE) mechanism. [8]
On May 9, T-Rex announced the completion of a $17 million Pre-Seed funding round and established an incubation fund aimed at seamlessly rewarding online content consumers on social platforms. [9]
Investment Institutions: Portal Ventures, North Island Ventures, Framework Ventures, Arbitrum Gaming Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Mindful Venture Capital, Hypersphere, SNZ, Arche Fund, etc.
Highlights:
VOYA Games
Introduction: VOYA Games is a Web3 game studio dedicated to creating easy-to-learn, fun-first games that provide players with meaningful autonomy. Their developed game, Craft World, is a casual resource management game where players collaborate with friendly dinosaurs to rebuild civilization after a meteorite wipes out humanity. The game is currently in the testnet phase, with testing expected to be completed this summer.【10】
On May 21, Voya Games announced the completion of a $5 million financing round, led by 1kx and Makers Fund. The funds raised will be used to support the development of the casual Web3 game Craft World.
Investment Institutions/Angel Investors: 1kx, Makers Fund, RockawayX, Sky Mavis co-founder Jeff 'Jihoz' Zirlin, The Sandbox Chief Operating Officer Sébastien Borget, etc.
Highlights:
KYD Labs
Introduction: KYD Labs is a Web3 live event ticketing solution platform built on Solana, designed to empower artists and venues with full control over ticket sales, fan data and revenue, effectively solving the problem of revenue loss caused by secondary market circulation. It leverages blockchain technology, including smart contracts and possibly NFTs, to provide ticketing services, thereby enhancing fan engagement and creating more revenue opportunities for event organizers. 【13】
On May 14, KYD Labs announced the completion of a $7 million seed funding round, led by a16z Crypto.
Investment Institutions: a16z Crypto, Techstars, Finality Capital Partners, Ambush Capital, etc.
Highlights:
Summary
In May 2025, the Web3 industry completed a total of 122 financings, with a total decline (35.35%) to $1.92 billion, while showing a highly centralized and institution-led structural characteristic. The allocation of funds is obviously biased towards the three major tracks of CeFi, blockchain services and infrastructure, among which CeFi leads the way with an absolute advantage of $1.29 billion. In terms of project size, the "mid-range concentration" (US$3 million to US$10 million, accounting for 32.9%) and the distribution characteristics of "decreasing at both ends" reflect the convergence of market risk appetite and the preference of capital for medium-sized projects that have been preliminarily verified and have growth potential. The financing round presents a K-shaped structure of "active early-stage projects (64.9% of the total of seed and strategic rounds), and concentrated funds in the middle and late stages (60.9% of the A and B rounds of financing)". Including key projects such as Antix, Turtle Club, T-Rex, VOYA Games, and KYD Labs, its innovation directions cover AI digital humans, on-chain liquidity, Web2 user introduction to Web3, and Web3 ticketing, indicating that the market continues to explore emerging technologies and application scenarios in addition to infrastructure and traditional financial cross-projects. Overall, Web3 investment is moving from frenzy to maturity, with a rational, hierarchical approach to capital, and an increasing focus on project compliance, business model clarity, and ability to connect to the real world.
Resources:
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