- Investments into crypto projects fell 24% in February.
- But Galaxy Ventures’ top exec is still bullish.
- Analysts see VCs pouring $18 billion into the industry in 2025.
Mike Giampapa likes crypto’s chances.
Galaxy Ventures’ general partner told DL News that he expects investors will increase the amount they pour into industry projects.
That’s some prediction, given how the total crypto market shed 12% — or about $500 billion — of its total value in February.
Meanwhile, and cash injections into industry projects dropped 24% from January to $973 million, according to DefiLlama data.
“We don’t believe the price action over the last month will have a detrimental impact on the VC landscape over the course of 2025,” Giampapa told DL News.
He added that he expects the exit environment to improve with more crypto companies going public or being acquired.
Giampapa is not the only one to be optimistic.
In December, PitchBook analysts told DL News they predicted VCs to inject some $18 billion into the sector this year, up from the $9.9 billion yearly average of 2023 and 2024.
The Trump effect
Why the bullishness? To Giampapa, the industry still has a lot going for it.
President Donald Trump has promised to make the US the crypto capital of the planet.
Since his election win, he has made a string of appointments and executive orders designed to end what he and the industry called a crypto crackdown. This week, the White House hosts its first ever crypto summit.
Trump and people associated with him have even launched a number of crypto projects of their own.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its cases against Coinbase, Uniswap, Robinhood, and OpenSea. It also tore up its controversial SAB 121 rule, which now opens the playing field for US firms looking to hold crypto on their books.
At the same time, traditional financial institutions are increasingly tapping into the industry. Just last week, Bank of America said it might launch its own stablecoin.
“It’s a new era for crypto, and VCs are excited by the next generation of startups being founded in the space,” Justin Barlow, venture partner at Faction VC and an angel investor, told DL News in February.
Giampapa said many VC firms are in the process of raising capital or kicking off fundraising processes. “So capital is forming around these themes.”
No ‘drastic spike’
While previous bull runs in 2018 and 2021 saw investment surge, Giampapa doubted that history will repeat itself this time around.
“I don’t foresee a drastic spike in VC funding in 2025 with the likes of many crossover funds and generalist VC funds entering the market,” he said.
In 2025, Giampapa said Galaxy Ventures will focus on “novel crypto networks and financialised applications building on top of these networks to enable better, faster, cheaper financial services.”
“We see stablecoins and traditional finance on a collision course and want to invest in businesses that enable more efficient money movement around the world,” he said.
The comment echoes PitchBook’s February predictions that stablecoins and artificial intelligence are two key areas in which investors interested in crypto ventures will pour their money into this year.
Eric Johansson is DL News’ News Editor. Got a tip? Email at eric@dlnews.com.
