According to Messari data, a total of $220 million was raised by 18 projects in the week ending March 9th, marking the third consecutive week that crypto investment funding has exceeded $200 million. The stability of this figure is more significant than the total amount in any single week.
Five-Week Trend
Messari's chart tells a story that a single data point cannot. Five weeks ago, on February 9th, the total funding tracked for deals was $62 million across 18 transactions. The following week, this amount jumped to $179 million involving 13 deals, then surged to $269 million on February 23rd with 17 transactions. The week of March 2nd saw a slight dip to $202 million across 20 deals, before stabilizing at $220 million with 18 transactions on March 9th.
Looking at it now, the February 9th figure appears to be a floor rather than the norm. Every subsequent week has seen funding between $179 million and $269 million, a range that indicates sustained demand for capital rather than an average skewed by a single anomalous week. The number of deals has also remained remarkably consistent, fluctuating between 13 and 20 over the five-week period. The amount of capital per deal has also been rising in tandem with the overall totals.
Where the Money Went
KAST led the pack this week with $80 million in funding, the largest single deal, which was detailed in previous reporting. Cryptio followed, raising $45 million for its crypto tax and accounting data services. Zcash Open Development Lab raised $25 million, Unitas Eco closed a $13.3 million round, and VeryAI secured $10 million for AI verification infrastructure, while Kled AI garnered $5.5 million.
The industry breakdown of these six deals is worth a closer look. Payments and neobanking infrastructure received the largest share of investment, with compliance and accounting tools securing the second-largest portion. Privacy infrastructure, yield farming, AI verification, and AI data services filled out the remaining spots. Overall, there isn't a single dominant theme, other than a general focus on infrastructure rather than consumer-facing products.
This pattern has held consistent in recent weeks. Venture capital in crypto is not chasing the next token launch, but rather funding the infrastructure that institutional and retail users will ultimately rely on, regardless of which specific asset or protocol wins on the application layer.
Signals of Acceleration
The jump from $62 million to a sustained range above $200 million over five weeks is hardly an incremental trend, but a leap. The timing coincides with improving broader market conditions, with Bitcoin rallying to a six-week high and other altcoins showing strong weekly gains in this week's reporting. However, venture capital funding cycles tend to be longer than spot price action. Deals being closed now likely began their term sheet discussions weeks or months ago.
This means the capital flowing in now reflects decisions made during the downturn, rather than an immediate reaction to this week's market volatility.