Via cryptorank.io
Active crypto VC firms fall to 150, lowest since November 2020
The number of unique venture firms participating in crypto deals has collapsed 87% from the 2022 peak, signaling a dramatic reshaping of startup funding.
The crypto venture capital crowd has thinned out considerably. Only 150 unique VC firms participated in crypto funding rounds through July 28, according to CryptoRank data, marking the lowest monthly count since November 2020.
At the May 2022 peak, 1,177 unique investors were piling into crypto deals. The current figure represents an 87% decline from that high-water mark.
The numbers paint a sobering picture
In the first quarter of 2026, approximately $4 billion was deployed across 355 deals, representing a roughly 50% drop quarter-over-quarter.
The remaining active players skew heavily toward established names. Coinbase Ventures has historically led the pack with over 372 tracked deals, making it the most prolific investor in the space by sheer volume. NGC Ventures also remains among the consistently active firms.
Why the exodus happened
Regulatory tightening across major markets made crypto investing riskier from a compliance perspective. The enforcement-heavy posture adopted by regulators in the US and elsewhere created uncertainty that institutional-grade VCs simply didn’t want to navigate.
Reduced trading volumes across both centralized and decentralized exchanges also played a role. Lower volumes translate directly into lower trading fees, which means the revenue models underpinning many crypto startups looked less attractive to potential backers.
Broader macroeconomic headwinds didn’t help either. Higher interest rates through much of the past few years gave traditional asset allocators plenty of reasons to park money in safer vehicles.
The result is an environment that actively discourages new market entrants while concentrating deal flow among a smaller group of established funds.
What this means for the market
The concentration of deal activity among firms like Coinbase Ventures and NGC Ventures creates a strategic dynamic worth monitoring. When a small number of investors dominate deal flow, their investment theses and portfolio construction strategies effectively shape which sectors of crypto receive capital.