Cryptocurrency and decentralized finance companies secured just over $600 million in venture capital funding during the month of April, according to data compiled by DefiLlama.
The monthly tally highlights a significant cooling-off period for digital asset fundraising, arriving on the heels of a much more aggressive first quarter. Despite the steady flow of capital into select market segments, industry executives point to ongoing headwinds, including what some describe as a pervasive culture of superficial project development across the startup ecosystem.
According to Diego Martin, CEO of Yellow Capital, the digital assets sector continues to grapple with an epidemic of what he terms "disingenuous innovation." This phrase refers to the grand, transformative promises frequently made by early-stage crypto startup teams that ultimately fail to materialize or deliver tangible utility to the market.
This gap between marketing and execution has created a cautious environment, particularly among institutional backers who traditionally prefer to see proven engagement before allocating substantial resources. Institutional investors typically wait for clear retail demand to materialize before taking a risk on unproven technological innovations, Martin explained in an interview with DL News.
Compounding these strategic hesitations is the fundamental nature of distributed ledger technology itself, where security, transparency, and counterparty risk remain paramount. Trust is simultaneously the primary barrier and the greatest opportunity to tap into, due to the unique architectural nature of the technology we work with, Martin noted.
Despite these hurdles, fundraising in April fell approximately 75% compared to March. The preceding month had proven to be a blockbuster period for venture deployment, driven by massive capital raises within the prediction market sector and a broader strategic pivot in focus across the crypto industry.
Even with the broader market contraction and more stringent institutional due diligence, marquee venture capital investors and traditional financial giants continued to deploy capital into high-profile digital asset firms. Major industry players including German banking titan Deutsche Börse Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, and Coinbase all participated in significant funding rounds throughout the month. Their investments targeted a diverse array of digital asset infrastructure companies, including Kraken, OpenGradient, and Pixie Chess.
The bulk of April’s venture capital activity was concentrated in a handful of massive deals, led by secondary share sales, major neobanking rounds, and Layer 1 blockchain development.
Kraken, $200 million
Payward, the parent company of major global cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, secured $200 million through a secondary share sale backed by Deutsche Börse. The high-profile transaction grants the German banking conglomerate a minority equity stake as it continues to expand its strategic footprint within the digital assets and market infrastructure ecosystem.
The secondary placement values Kraken at approximately $13.3 billion. While substantial, this valuation represents a contraction from the roughly $20 billion valuation the exchange commanded in late 2025.
The latest investment follows an active period of corporate development for the exchange. Kraken completed five separate acquisition deals throughout 2025 as part of an aggressive expansion strategy. Speaking with DL News in September, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi indicated that the firm maintained a robust pipeline with additional transactions lined up to bolster its market position amid surging global competition.
Slash, $100 million
In the neobanking sector, financial technology platform Slash successfully raised $100 million in a Series C funding round. The financing was led by prominent venture capital firm Ribbit Capital, with additional participation from Khosla Ventures and Goodwater Capital.
Slash specializes in providing comprehensive banking and financial management tools tailored for online businesses, including companies that operate within or interact with the crypto economy.
This latest influx of capital successfully propels Slash into coveted unicorn territory, pushing the company’s valuation past the $1 billion threshold and lifting its total lifetime venture funding beyond $160 million. The round also saw continued support from New Enterprise Associates and Y Combinator, marking the fourth consecutive time the prominent startup accelerators and venture firms have backed the company.
Pharos, $44 million
Rounding out the top three funding deals of the month, Pharos secured $44 million in a Series A funding round. The financing was backed by a consortium of institutional investors, including SNZ Holding, Chainlink, and Flow Traders, as first reported by Coindesk.
Pharos is currently building a specialized Layer 1 blockchain network designed from the ground up to handle large-scale financial activity and enterprise-grade workloads. The network is engineered to support Ethereum-compatible applications, a design choice intended to lower technical barriers and make it significantly easier for crypto-native developers to deploy and scale their decentralized applications.
This installment of The Weekly Raise covers fundraising deals across the crypto and DeFi ecosystems using data powered by DefiLlama. Lance Datskoluo is DL News Europe-based markets correspondent.
