December 2025 Crypto Funding Brief

By
Shivam Patel
January 7, 2026
January 7, 2026

December 2025 Crypto Funding Brief

Welcome to our Monthly Crypto Funding Brief. Each month, we bring you the latest activities in the fundraising landscape. This newsletter aims to keep you informed about key developments, significant fundraises, active investors, and upcoming token unlocks, helping you stay ahead in the dynamic world of investments.

In this edition:

  • Top 5 Largest Venture Funding Rounds
  • Top 5 Most Active Investors
  • Distribution of Fundraises by Company Category
  • Top 5 Largest Digital Asset Treasury Funding Rounds
  • Distribution of Fundraises by Stage
  • M&A Activity
  • Notable Fundraise Filings
  • Token Unlocks for December 2025 / January 2026

____________

InnD_mail_banner_01_hr
Wednesday, February 18th, 2026, The Tie will host our Innovate event, InnovateDenver. Innovate is an event series presented by The Tie at crypto’s major conferences, where investors and builders come together to engage in discussions that strengthen the industry’s momentum and increase interest in digital assets.

The event series features three key pillars: networking with top-tier industry professionals, expert-led panels, and opportunities for 1:1 meetings with blockchain innovators. InnovateDenver was the first of these invitation-only events at ETH Denver 2024.

>> Learn more here <<

__________

Monthly Fundraising Highlights

In December 2025, 165 crypto companies across 189 rounds secured a combined $6.94 billion in funding. Of this total, 15 companies across 16 rounds raised approximately $5.50 billion through PIPEs, debt, IPOs, or post-IPO equity. Additionally, 11 companies raised funds specifically for Digital Asset Treasury strategies. As shown in the chart below, the largest publicly disclosed raise was Erebor’s $350 million unspecified round.
Note: The charts below do not include accelerator programs.

Top 5 Largest Venture Funding Rounds: December 2025

As shown in the chart below, the top five investors took part in 18 funding rounds. Their investments spanned multiple sectors, including key narratives such as AI, Banks, Betting & Prediction Markets, DeFi, Decentralized Social, Infrastructure Providers, Payments, RWAs, Staking Providers, and Trading Services.

Top 5 Most Active Investors

Distribution of Fundraises by Company Category

In December, DeFi companies led in number of deals with 32 collectively raising approximately $124 million. In contrast, 4 Mining companies secured $3.64 billion across 4 rounds.

Top 5 Largest Digital Asset Treasury Funding Rounds

Fundraising by Stage

In December, grant rounds accounted for the majority of fundraising activity, with 36 companies raising a combined $660k. Meanwhile, Post-IPO Equity fundraising brought in the largest total, as 4 companies collectively raised $2.63 billion.
image10-Jan-07-2026-05-12-18-9395-AM
image3-Jan-07-2026-05-12-36-0376-AM

M&A Activity

In December 2025, the crypto space saw 25 acquisitions spanning diverse sectors.

Notable Fundraise Filings

The chart below highlights the funds that reported the most recent fundraises through the SEC's Form D or D/A filings.

Token Unlocks: December 2025 and January 2026

This chart highlights major token unlocks exclusively for investors in December 2025 and January 2026. Notably, ONDO will unlock a total of $141.38 million on January 18, 2026. These figures specifically exclude other token allocation categories such as team member distributions, airdrops, or other non-investor allocations.
The size and color of the circles represent the USD value of each unlock.

This blog is for informational purposes only and is not investment or trading advice. You are fully responsible for any decisions you make; The TIE Inc. is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on information provided. For investment advice, please consult a registered investment advisor.