Crypto VC investments rise 31% to $5.6 billion in Q2 2026

Venture capital investment in crypto and blockchain picked up sharply in the second quarter of 2026 after a quieter first quarter. According to Galaxy Research, a total of roughly $5.6 billion was invested across 384 deals in Q2, a rise of 31% compared with the previous quarter. The number of deals grew by 10%. The revival was driven by larger later-stage funding rounds.

In brief:

• Crypto VC investment rises 31% quarter on quarter to $5.6 billion in Q2 2026.
• Later-stage companies take 78.3% of total capital; trading and exchange companies lead with $3.52 billion.
• New fundraising for crypto VC funds falls back to its lowest level since 2019, with only five funds raising $3.9 billion.

Later-stage deals dominate the quarter

Later-stage companies accounted for 78.3% of all capital invested in Q2. The trading, exchange, investing and lending category was by far the largest recipient with around $3.52 billion, good for almost three fifths of all investment in the quarter. DeFi came in second place with roughly $478 million, followed by privacy and security, tokenisation, AI and infrastructure.

Measured by number of deals, the picture was more diverse. Trading and exchange led with 51 deals, but payments and DeFi followed at a respectful distance with 40 deals each. The median deal size reached a new record level of around $4.9 million in Q2.

Geographically, US companies remain dominant. They received 73.5% of the capital invested and were involved in 39.1% of the 384 deals. The United Kingdom came second with 4% of the capital, followed by France with 3.2%. This ties in with the broader trend also visible in the behaviour of hedge funds towards tech stocks, in which US parties continue to play a pronounced role.

Annual pace heading for $20 billion, fundraising disappoints

Based on the first half of 2026, the full-year total would come in at around $20 billion. That is slightly below the 2025 level of $20.3 billion, but well above the pace of most quarters in 2023 and 2024. In total, $10 billion has already been invested across 744 deals in the first half of this year.

The correlation between the Bitcoin price and VC investment is weaker than in earlier cycles. Bitcoin reached new highs at the end of 2025 while investment activity was irregular, although both indicators rose simultaneously in Q2 2026. Bitcoin currently stands at $76.440, up 0.7% in the past 24 hours.

The picture around new fundraising is less positive. In Q2, only five new crypto VC funds together raised some $3.9 billion, the lowest number of new funds per quarter since the third quarter of 2019. Galaxy Research points to several causes: the aftermath of the crypto downturn in 2022 and 2023, the increased interest in AI which draws attention away from crypto, and competition from spot ETFs and companies with digital assets on their balance sheets, which are also competing for institutional capital.

On an annual basis, fundraising activity in 2026 would come in at around $10 billion, which is above the $8.75 billion of 2025. The average fund size rose to around $378 million per fund.