Last week, there were a total of 30 public financing events in the cryptocurrency market, with a cumulative financing of approximately 412 million USD | Investment and Financing Weekly Report
Cryptocurrency startup Orochi Network has completed a $12 million financing round, with participation from Presto Labs and others; the re-staking protocol Byzantine has completed a $3 million Pre-Seed round, led by Node and Blockwall; the Sui ecosystem AI Agent content platform FanTV has completed a $3 million financing round, with participation from Mysten Labs and others.Organizer: Luan Peng, RootData
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from February 24 to March 2, 2025, there were a total of 30 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, with a cumulative financing of approximately $412 million.
From the perspective of track distribution, the projects that received financing are mainly distributed in the infrastructure and AI tracks. Popular projects include the decentralized AI protocol Prime Intellect, the Bitcoin ecosystem stablecoin project Aegis, the AI Agent service company MelodAI, and the Solana ecosystem DePIN project Shaga.
In addition, the blockchain asset risk management platform Lockchain.ai announced the completion of a $5 million Series A financing, led by White Star Capital, with participation from Lerer Hippeau, Arrington Capital, and Sonic Boom Ventures.
*(List of projects with financing greater than $5 million last week, data source: * Rootdata）
1. Infrastructure
Decentralized AI protocol Prime Intellect completes $15 million financing, led by Founders Fund
The decentralized AI protocol Prime Intellect announced that it has completed $15 million in financing, led by Founders Fund, with participation from Menlo Ventures, Andrej Karpathy (EurekaAI, Tesla, OpenAI), Clem Delangue (Hugging Face), Dylan Patel (SemiAnalysis), Tri Dao (Together.AI), Balaji Srinivasan (Network School), Emad Mostaque (Stability AI), Jake Medwell (co-founder of 8VC), Brendan McCord (Cosmos Institute), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), and others. After this round of financing, its total fundraising exceeded $20 million. Prime Intellect is building a peer-to-peer protocol for computation and intelligence, dedicated to the collective co-creation, co-construction, and sharing of sovereign open-source AI.
Optimum announced the completion of angel round financing, with investors including the CTO of Polychain, the founder of DeFiance Capital, the CEO of Bitget, co-founders of Wormhole and Polygon, and managing partners from Jump Crypto.
Optimum was co-founded by Professor Muriel Médard, head of the NEC at MIT, Dr. Kishori Konwar, and Kent Lin, president of the Harvard Blockchain Association. Based on MIT's research on random linear network coding (RLNC), it aims to create the world's first full-chain scaling solution—high-performance memory for the world computer.
Optimum provides high-performance memory infrastructure for L1/L2 blockchains and node operators, including a P2P data communication layer and a decentralized memory layer (deRAM), breaking through the scalability bottleneck of blockchain to achieve fast data transmission, efficient storage, and real-time access. The financing will be used to accelerate product development and bring infrastructure upgrades to the Web3 ecosystem.
Decentralized computing market Spheron announced that it has completed a strategic financing round, attracting participation from Tykhe Block Ventures, HASH CIB, Arcanum Ventures, and others. This financing aims to support Spheron in expanding GPU deployment, enhancing decentralized computing capabilities, and promoting the development of AI-driven applications.
It is reported that Spheron Network aims to integrate global computing resources to create a GPU trading market, providing highly customized and low-cost computing services for computing demanders in applications such as AI, DeFi, and gaming, empowering the development of the decentralized economy. Currently, Spheron Network has 766,000 CPUs, 10,300 GPUs, 35,000 Mac chips, over $24 million in computing contributions, and more than 30,000 provider nodes.
According to Cointelegraph, the crypto technology startup Orochi Network has completed $12 million in financing, with participation from Presto Labs, Smape Capital, Anti Capital, Maxx Capital, Bolts Capital, AZA Ventures, and Connectico, and has received funding from the Ethereum Foundation, Mina Protocol, Web3 Foundation, and BNB Chain.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Orochi Network is a cutting-edge ZKO (operating system for application zero-knowledge proofs) designed to address the challenges of computational limitations, data correctness, and data availability in the Web3 industry. Orochi Network uses MPC and ECVRF to build a distributed source of trustless randomness for all types of Web3 applications, providing verifiable randomness for smart contracts on EVM and FVM.
Crypto wallet Phantom announces acquisition of token data platform SimpleHash
Crypto wallet Phantom announced the acquisition of the token data platform SimpleHash, with the specific acquisition amount not disclosed. This is Phantom's third acquisition in recent months, following Blowfish and Bitski.
Phantom CEO Brandon Millman stated, "By bringing in SimpleHash, we ensure that Phantom users have the most accurate and comprehensive token data."
ZKP technology startup Ligero completes $4 million financing, co-led by Galaxy Ventures and 1kx
According to The Block, ZKP technology startup Ligero has completed $4 million in seed round financing, co-led by Galaxy Ventures and 1kx, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Nascent, Anagram, Robot Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and ZKV.
The company began this round of financing in March 2024 and ended in July 2024. The structure of the seed round financing is a simple future equity agreement (SAFE), accompanied by token warrants, with a valuation cap of $20 million, and there are currently no plans to launch tokens.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Ligero is a lightweight and scalable protocol for secure multi-party computation (MPC) and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP).
The Self Labs team announced the launch of the zero-knowledge proof protocol Self Protocol, having previously acquired the digital identity protocol OpenPassport.
Self Labs CEO Eric Nakagawa stated, "Today, every on-chain project faces the same challenge: how to ensure that its application covers unique users without compromising privacy. Our protocol provides the necessary infrastructure for projects to guarantee verifiable identity credentials while protecting user data without disclosing any underlying information or conducting intrusive procedures—this is the foundation that has been missing in the on-chain economy and the entire internet."
Florent Tavernier, co-founder of OpenPassport and current co-founder of Self Labs, stated, "I am excited to join Self Labs and combine our expertise in ZK technology and identity solutions to expand Self Protocol into on-chain and other areas."
Shared security network IMUA completes $5 million seed round financing, led by Draper Dragon
The shared security network IMUA announced the completion of $5 million in seed round financing, led by Draper Dragon, No Limit Holdings, and Paramita Capital, with participation from Reforge Capital, Caladan Capital, Tané Labs, Syntax Capital, MH Ventures, 57 Blocks, Lecca Ventures, and others. The new funds will be used to develop new technologies to bundle decentralized security and trust across blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana into a service to protect secure transactions for off-chain networks like AI agents. Currently, the IMUA public testnet is live.
2. DeFi
Bitcoin ecosystem stablecoin project Aegis announced the completion of $2 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Dewhales Capital, with participation from Profluent Ventures and a group of angel investors. The new funds will support the development of YUSD, a stablecoin backed by Bitcoin, which maintains stability by establishing a delta-neutral position and selling perpetual contracts with BTC collateral equal to its Bitcoin exposure.
According to CoinDesk, RWA blockchain development company Mavryk Dynamics announced the completion of $5.2 million in financing, led by Ghaf Capital, Big Brain, MetaVest Capital, Cluster Capital, Collective Ventures, and Atlas Fund.
Mavryk Dynamics aims to simplify RWA tokenization and DeFi integration, making digital asset ownership more accessible.
Re-staking protocol Byzantine Finance completed $3 million in Pre-Seed round financing, led by Node Capital and Blockwall Ventures, with participation from Lightshift, Masterkey, Kiln Ventures, and angel investors from EigenLayer, LayerZero, and Ledger. This funding will be used to develop its Byzantine permissionless "aggregation layer," a protocol designed to enable multiple blockchains to share liquidity, state, and users without sacrificing sovereignty.
MEXC Ventures makes a strategic investment of $16 million in Ethena
According to official news, MEXC Ventures has made a strategic investment of $16 million in Ethena.
Additionally, MEXC is investing $20 million to promote the development of the USDe stablecoin while launching a $1 million reward program.
3. AI
AI Agent service company MelodAI completes new round of financing, led by LF Labs
AI Agent service company MelodAI announced the completion of a new round of financing. This round was led by LF Labs from the United States, with participation from Becker Ventures and Web3Link (Hong Kong), with the specific financing amount not disclosed. This financing will primarily be used to promote MelodAI's product development and market expansion in the Web3 and AI entertainment fields, enhancing its competitiveness in the global AIGC and AI Agent service sectors.
MelodAI CEO Mark Rau stated, "We are very honored to receive support from LF Labs, Becker Ventures, and Web3Link. We believe that the combination of Web3 and AI technology will bring revolutionary changes to the entertainment industry, and MelodAI will continue to innovate in this field."
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, MelodAI is an AIGC and multimodal AI agent platform. It uses artificial intelligence to analyze text or audio input and create original music tracks tailored to the content, thereby enhancing users' creativity in music creation.
Decentralized AI protocol Prime Intellect completes $15 million financing, led by Founders Fund
The decentralized AI protocol Prime Intellect announced that it has completed $15 million in financing, led by Founders Fund, with participation from Menlo Ventures, Andrej Karpathy (EurekaAI, Tesla, OpenAI), Clem Delangue (Hugging Face), Dylan Patel (SemiAnalysis), Tri Dao (Together.AI), Balaji Srinivasan (Network School), Emad Mostaque (Stability AI), Jake Medwell (co-founder of 8VC), Brendan McCord (Cosmos Institute), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), and others. After this round of financing, its total fundraising exceeded $20 million. Prime Intellect is building a peer-to-peer protocol for computation and intelligence, dedicated to the collective co-creation, co-construction, and sharing of sovereign open-source AI.
According to The Block, the Sui ecosystem AI Agent content platform FanTV has completed $3 million in financing, with participation from Mysten Labs, Cypher Capital, CoinSwitch Ventures, and Illuminati Capital.
The project previously completed $5.5 million in financing, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Woodstock Fund, Krafton, IOSG Ventures, Pravega Ventures, and Tykhe Block Ventures.
According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, FanTV is a Web3-based video + live social platform aimed at empowering creators by providing streaming, community, and monetization services, facilitating the transformation of the on-chain creator economy.
4. Gaming
Shaga completes $4 million financing, led by IOSG Ventures
The Solana ecosystem DePIN project Shaga announced the completion of $4 million in financing, led by IOSG Ventures, with investors including Everyrealm, Amber Group, MH Ventures, and several angel investors.
Shaga is dedicated to reshaping the gaming experience, breaking through hardware bottlenecks, and providing ultra-low latency and high-performance gaming, aiming to allow billions of players worldwide to enjoy the ultimate gaming pleasure. By adopting edge computing technology, Shaga brings users a cloud gaming experience, allowing anyone to set up nodes and share games. Players can participate in the DePIN network at a lower cost and latency without purchasing specialized hardware, significantly lowering the entry barrier for the ecosystem.
Previously, Shaga had just completed $1 million in angel round financing in June 2024.
5. Others
Sixth Street invests $200 million in blockchain lending company Figure
Global investment firm Sixth Street has invested $200 million in Figure Technology Solutions, a U.S.-based lending company that leverages blockchain technology to enhance the efficiency of the lending market and reduce costs. This investment will enable Figure to issue up to $2 billion in new loans and help the company expand into other lending markets.
Figure Technology primarily offers home improvement loans but also provides commercial loans and debt consolidation services. It also operates a personal loan business that allows cryptocurrency investors to borrow against their collateral. The Figure website claims to have served over 100,000 households across 47 states in the U.S.
Decentralized exchange Bluefin has acquired InsideX, accelerating Sui on-chain trading layout
According to Bluefin's announcement, it has acquired a majority stake in InsideX, an integrated trading terminal on the Sui Network that provides multifunctional trading tools.
Gift card crypto platform Raise completes $63 million financing, led by Haun Ventures
According to Fortune, gift card crypto platform Raise announced the completion of $63 million in financing, led by Haun Ventures, with participation from Paper Ventures, Selini Capital, GSR, and Solana co-founder Raj Gokal. The company declined to disclose the valuation for this financing.
Blockchain asset risk management platform Lockchain.ai announces completion of $5 million Series A financing, led by White Star Capital
According to official news, blockchain asset risk management platform Lockchain.ai announced the completion of $5 million in Series A financing, led by White Star Capital, with participation from Lerer Hippeau, Arrington Capital, and Sonic Boom Ventures. Lockchain.ai plans to use the new funds to enhance its major event detection capabilities for sharper market intelligence, accelerate data discovery, simplify due diligence, build an automated compliance framework that meets regulatory requirements, and launch regulatory compliance automation for MiCA and others.
It is reported that Lockchain.ai is a blockchain asset risk management platform that utilizes generative AI for real-time portfolio risk analysis and monitoring.
According to official news, crypto asset management company Bitwise has completed $70 million in financing, with participation from Electric Capital, MassMutual, MIT Investment Management Company, Highland Capital, Haun Ventures, ParaFi Capital, and others, continuing to advance its position as a leading crypto asset management company.
Currently, Bitwise manages $12 billion in client assets, has over 100 employees, and offers more than 30 investment solutions. The company plans to continue expanding its team and launching new products.
According to 1confirmation's announcement on the X platform, MeebCo, the company behind the NFT project Meebits, has completed $3 million in a new round of financing, with participation from 1confirmation, though specific valuation information has not been disclosed.
According to related announcements, Meebits currently does not have plans to issue tokens, but there may be potential plans for future token issuance. 1confirmation added that although the project currently does not have a clear product direction, it will support the return of NFTs and build a long-term community.
Memes Lab completes $2.3 million seed round financing, led by Lemniscap
Memes Lab has completed $2.3 million in seed round financing, led by Lemniscap, with participation from TVM Ventures, Animoca Brands, OKX Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Kucoin Ventures, GSR, Amber Group, and others.
Additionally, according to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Memes Lab is a multi-level meme infrastructure on TON, integrated with Telegram Stars, allowing users to purchase meme coins without a wallet. Memes Lab also automatically creates Telegram groups for each newly launched meme coin, facilitating immediate community engagement.
