ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is planning to raise $20 billion to establish a growth-stage investment fund focused on artificial intelligence. If successful, this will become the largest fund in the company's history. The fund is expected to attract international limited partners seeking to invest in U.S. AI companies, with part of the funds allocated for follow-on investments in AI startups within a16z's existing portfolio, such as Databricks and xAI.

ChainCatcher news, focusing on stablecoin innovation, Dubai-based venture capital incubator Code & State announced it has secured $3 million in funding. This round was led by Warburg Serres and KR1, and the funds will be used to incubate projects aimed at promoting the real-world applications of stablecoins.It is reported that Code & State is a venture capital studio dedicated to building and scaling stablecoin enterprises, founded by Cédric Waldburger and Artia Moghbel. Code & State provides startups with funding, mentorship, and infrastructure support to help address key challenges in the stablecoin ecosystem, such as payment systems, cross-border remittances, compliance, and security.

ChainCatcher news, the third fund under the encrypted venture capital Maven 11 has completed fundraising of $107 million, which took about nine months longer than initially expected. Maven 11's Chief Investment Officer Bomans stated that the fund began deploying capital a year ago and has already supported several startups, including the decentralized trading platform GTE, the on-chain competition platform JokeRace, the on-chain major broker August, and the Ethereum scaling startup Spire Labs.It is reported that Maven 11 first announced the establishment of the third fund in November 2023, aiming to complete it in the first half of 2024. Although the fund was delayed, it received support from Theta Capital Management as well as new institutional backers from Europe and Asia. While Maven 11's Chief Investment Officer declined to disclose the names of all LPs, he noted that the London-based investment firm Karatage is one of the participants.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, crypto venture capital firm Maven 11 has raised $107 million for its third fund, slightly exceeding the initial target of $100 million.This financing was completed about nine months later than originally planned, mainly due to the harsh environment of the crypto market, with capital providers or limited partners (LPs) adopting a more cautious attitude. Balder Bomans, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of Maven 11, stated that we have observed and experienced an increased sensitivity of capital providers towards venture capital funds, partly due to the widespread losses caused by a series of market crashes in 2022.

ChainCatcher news, the official TON blockchain stated on social media: "Contrary to some news media reports, the TON Foundation did not 'raise' $400 million. In fact, what the foundation disclosed is that over $400 million worth of Toncoin is currently held by some of the most forward-looking venture capital firms in the United States."

ChainCatcher news, CoinDesk analyst Sam Reynolds stated that according to Pitchbook data, venture capital financing in the U.S. cryptocurrency sector was approximately $861 million in the first quarter of 2025, while the AI industry attracted nearly $20 billion, with funding still clearly leaning towards artificial intelligence. Major financing in the AI sector includes: Databricks $15.3 billion, Anthropic $2 billion, totaling 795 transactions. The largest financing in the cryptocurrency industry was Abu Dhabi MGX's investment of $2 billion in Binance, with other financings including Mesh $82 million, Bitwise $70 million, and Sygnum Bank $58 million.Historical data shows that AI financing grew from $670 million in 2011 to $36 billion in 2020, with an overall growth rate far exceeding that of the cryptocurrency sector, where in 2021, a classification adjustment briefly caused cryptocurrency financing to surpass AI. Despite the dominance of AI funding, the cryptocurrency industry still obtains funds through unique mechanisms such as airdrops, which generated a total of $700 million from the top 11 airdrops from 2020 to 2024.According to Statista data, historical data shows that venture capital has generally favored artificial intelligence (AI) over cryptocurrencies, with funding for AI and machine learning continuing to grow and expand exponentially, increasing from $670 million in 2011 to $36 billion in 2020.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, former Blocktower Capital venture team members Thomas Klocanas, Steven Venino, and Winnie Lau have founded a new company, Strobe, and plan to raise $100 million for its second fund.The team is currently still deploying its first $150 million fund, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Klocanas stated that establishing an independent company allows the team to maintain a lean structure, focus on venture capital business, and adopt a more patient and independent investment strategy.Strobe's portfolio already includes projects such as Morpho, Ethena, Ledger, TYB, Aptos, and Maple Finance. Klocanas emphasized that they are looking for founders who can solve real problems and focus on fundamentals, rather than social media influencers, and believes that "if you can't create hundreds of millions of dollars in value for hundreds of millions of users, trading billions of dollars is unsustainable."

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, the crypto venture capital firm 1confirmation has acquired PTC Crypto and appointed its founder Brett Shear as a general partner.1confirmation founder Nick Tomaino stated, "The crypto industry has primarily focused on funding and infrastructure over the past 15 years, and the next 15 years will focus on practical applications. Brett has been at the forefront of consumer-grade crypto technology for a long time, and we are excited to work with him."Relevant information shows that PTC Crypto is an early-stage venture fund launched in early 2021, investing in the crypto creator economy. PTC Crypto connects crypto-native relationships with mainstream cultural icons, becoming a market partner in the field.

ChainCatcher news, Becker Ventures today announced that it will host an "Exclusive Venture Horizon" investor invitation-only cocktail party on February 19 at 18:00 at SOHO House, Central, taking advantage of the annual blockchain event Consensus in Hong Kong.According to official disclosures, this event will selectively invite representatives from leading institutions such as OKX Ventures, Alliance DAO, Paradigm, as well as high-quality Web3 projects that have been selected for the Becker Ventures acceleration program.The event will adopt a dual-track mechanism of invitation and registration review, focusing on cutting-edge tracks such as Infra, DeFi, and AI, with special sessions for project roadshows, thematic roundtables, and free networking."Hong Kong, as a hub for Web3 innovation and consensus, is attracting builders from around the world to converge here," said a founding partner of Becker Ventures. "We look forward to creating a chemical reaction between builders who truly create value and discerning VCs through deep social scenarios."It is reported that the fund's first phase has a scale of $50 million, focusing on innovative projects from seed to Series A rounds. The event has opened a limited registration channel, and Web3 entrepreneurs can submit their BP through luma to obtain entry qualifications. Industry observers point out that this closed-door event may become the most valuable capital matchmaking platform for Hong Kong's Web3 month.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, PitchBook reveals in a new report that crypto venture capital spending will remain sluggish until the end of 2024. Specific data shows that the transaction value in Q4 2024 surged to $2.4 billion, a 13.6% increase from Q3, but the number of transactions decreased from 411 to 351.PitchBook's Robert Le pointed out: "Although there has been a return of funds, indicating ongoing support from investors for mature teams and differentiated technologies, the continuous decline in the number of transactions reflects an increased selectivity among investors, a trend that has been evident since Q3."Comparing the data from 2023 and 2024, the figures are quite similar. In 2023, the total amount of crypto venture capital reached $10.3 billion, involving 1,936 transactions; while last year, spending in this sector also amounted to $10 billion, covering 1,940 transactions.Additionally, the average transaction amount in the seed stage increased by 20%, jumping from $2.5 million to $3 million; early-stage financing grew by 26%, reaching $4.8 million. However, late-stage financing saw a slight decline, dropping from $6.4 million to $6.3 million. Le stated that this reflects "founders of more mature companies turning to smaller but strategically focused funding rounds, rather than pursuing the large financing rounds that were common in the past."

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, a PitchBook research report shows that the number of cryptocurrency venture capital deals in 2024 is expected to decline by 14% year-on-year to 351 deals, while the total financing amount remains at $10 billion. The median valuation of early-stage projects has doubled year-on-year to $52 million, while late-stage projects account for only 5% of the total financing rounds.The report predicts that in 2025, there will be a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the fields of infrastructure providers, exchanges, and custodians. Venture capital is primarily focused on two major tracks: the first is the crypto AI sector, which has reached a market value of $55 billion, and analysts expect it to contribute up to $20 trillion in incremental value to the global economy by 2030; the second is the stablecoin market, which currently has a total size of $231 billion, with Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC both ranking among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market value, particularly Tether, which holds nearly 70% market share, achieving a profit of $13 billion in 2024.

ChainCatcher news, according to Blockworks, Empire analyst Jason Yanowitz pointed out that if we exclude the Bitcoin purchases by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the current cycle may still be in its early stages. The current Bitcoin price is entirely reliant on the over $20 billion that Strategy has spent since the end of last year. The market is still in the "pure player mutual liquidation" (PvP) phase, and venture capital has not yet entered on a large scale.Dan Matuszewski from CMS Holdings agrees, noting that the impact of the 2022 bear market is still ongoing, and market liquidity is essentially absent, preventing substantial capital inflows. Currently, apart from a "few selected targets," there has not been a large-scale influx of funds. The debate over "whether we have reached the peak" will intensify. However, regardless of the cycle position, we must acknowledge that the new regulatory framework has just begun, and its policies may become catalysts in the future.

ChainCatcher news, the Web3 asset data platform RootData tweeted that in the past two months, venture capital activity in the crypto market has sharply declined, specifically as follows:The number of VCs with no venture capital activity increased from 10 to 20;Institutions conducting 1 venture capital activity remain at a low level, with 14 VCs (in the past 2 months) and 10 VCs (in the past 1 month);More than 50% of active venture capital VCs made 0 or 1 investment, indicating extreme caution in the market and risk aversion, suggesting a potential deeper bear market phase ahead.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the 0G Foundation announced the launch of an $88.88 million DeFiAI ecological fund to accelerate the creation of AI-driven decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and autonomous agents (also known as DeFAI agents). The fund has received strategic support from Web3 investment firms, including HackVC, Delphi Ventures, Bankless Ventures, and OKX Ventures.

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, in January 2025, investment institutions including Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, and Andreessen Horowitz have invested nearly $1.2 billion in 79 projects in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector, a 63% increase compared to January 2024.PitchBook analysts predict that venture capital firms will invest about $18 billion in the crypto industry this year, up from the average of $9.9 billion in 2023 and 2024. Analysts believe that Trump's support for cryptocurrency is a key driving factor.