Active Crypto VC Firms Fall to 150, Lowest Since 2020

Only 150 unique venture capital firms have participated in crypto funding rounds in July, the lowest monthly count since November 2020, according to CryptoRank data through July 28.

The figure captures how far the investor base has compressed since the last bull market: at the May 2022 peak, 1,177 investors wrote checks into crypto rounds in a single month, meaning participation has fallen 87%. The smaller funds, family offices and angel syndicates that crowded into rounds during 2021 and 2022 have largely exited, leaving a concentrated circle of established firms leading deals.

The quarterly picture points the same direction. Some 651 firms participated in crypto rounds in the second quarter, down about 75% from 2,564 in the second quarter of 2022, per CryptoRank.

Fewer Checks, Bigger Moats

The shrinking headcount does not necessarily mean less capital. Large firms keep backing infrastructure and real-world asset plays, and Dragonfly closed a $650 million fourth fund in February. But Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly, told Fortune at the time that blockchain VCs face a "mass extinction," and he has argued that dedicated crypto venture capital could lose its reason to exist by 2030 as dominant platforms capture users and liquidity, leaving few important companies left to fund.

One month of partial data leaves room for seasonal noise — summer is typically slow for venture — but the distance from the 2022 peak makes a blip unlikely. The open question is whether a token market recovery or U.S. legislative clarity would revive the long tail of smaller funds, or whether crypto venture has permanently consolidated into an insider market where the same names price every round.