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Venture Capital in Crypto: A Shift Toward Real-World Integration in Q1 2025

The venture capital (VC) landscape in the crypto space had a notable shift in Q1 2025, following a strong showing on the market in the latter half of 2024. In particular, the performance of Bitcoin ($BTC) in Q3 and Q4 last year was a catalyst for increased funding in crypto startups in the first quarter of this year. But pricing and VC investment do not move in lockstep. Funding activity has a way of tailing the price trend by one or two quarters, and the soft pricing of recent weeks, if it is indeed the start of a downtrend, might mean less funding in the next few months. Even with this possible deceleration, emerging segments of the crypto ecosystem continue to attract investors. Most interesting are the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and real-world assets (RWA). Both crypto native and traditional venture capital firms have showcased these three critical areas. Overall, this reflects strong investor interest. Projects in the crypto space are looking increasingly towards the real world, the development of infrastructure, and user appeal that extends beyond the crypto native community. State of Venture Capital in Crypto, Q1 2025 Explore the latest state of the crypto venture capital market and learn why 2025 will be a game-changing year for crypto https://t.co/uU0jyjk2GH — CryptoRank.io (@CryptoRank_io) April 4, 2025 Strong Investor Appetite for Real-World Integration and Infrastructure In Q1 2025, significant venture funding moved towards a different type of project than had attracted it just a quarter earlier. Instead of focusing on speculative projects or the next big coin, many investors turned their attention to sectors with “real-world, tangible applications.” This included not just a diversification into various (physical) sectors of the economy, but a pronounced pivot towards the layering of crypto and blockchain technology with AI, a space where we saw a ton of project funding happening in 2024. (Given that AI technologies are also funded heavily with VC dollar, this layering effect is a pretty clear signal of where investors see the future economy going.) The whole DePIN discussion reflects not just a diversification of the type of project communities are building, but also signals the next “big area” that the crypto blockchain technology development community is now trying to tackle. Venture capital poured into Real-World Assets (RWA), as these projects sought to bring physical assets into the crypto fold. RWA seemed to promise a bridge between the traditional world of finance and a new digital era — an entrance into which institutional investors might more easily walk because they found some comfort in RWAs’ use of blockchain to address ‘real problems’ in the ‘real world.’ If all that was true, and VC investors seemed to think it was, then RWA could really change the game for crypto. Increasing investor interest in new sectors means that more and more investment dollars are flowing into these areas. And this is a very good sign for the sectors themselves. Why? Because it suggests that the investment community is very much looking at these sectors as not only having the potential to offer high rates of return over the long run but also as being places where there’s sustainable, real, and long-term value. Infrastructure; use cases; something that just about everyone involved in the crypto world now talks about: real-world relevance. These are the prime growth factors that make these new sectors that much more investable. A Surge in Token Launches and Future Market Dynamics A significant event in Q1 2025 was the arrival of large, VC-backed tokens in the crypto markets. These token launches brought with them nearly $20 billion in value not yet available to investors. They launched, in lost value, a not-so-happy $20 billion wave of change for the crypto space—if, indeed, such under-the-surface value waves can be counted as happy (or, for that matter, as waves at all). A broad examination of the space yields two conclusions concerning the impact on market dynamics: 1) The wave of not-so-happy $20 billion changes has two major effects that traders might actually care about. 2) These effects, as far as I can tell, are either going to be good for traders or good for the markets, in the long run. The influx of new tokens may induce short-term volatility, but it also demonstrates the crypto market’s advancing maturity. When large-cap tokens enter the market, it’s a sign of increasing institutional interest and further diversification of the crypto asset space that now extends well beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The crypto asset market is now well over $1 trillion. “New market segments are emerging, and they are doing so with innovative solutions and unique value propositions that they are bringing to users,” says Bakkt CEO Gavin Michael. Yet, the timing of these token launches with the softness of the market right now has to make you wonder about the potential long-term impacts on venture capital. The reason I say this is because as more tokens enter the market and start unlocking value, the price of these tokens is so uncertain right now that the potential for big price fluctuations seems pretty high. And when the current crop of tokens starts to unfold its attribution of value, how will that fare in the context of price stability? Outlook for Crypto Venture Capital: A Cautious but Optimistic Future When considering the future, one may expect that venture capital investment in the crypto space will likely face a period of caution, at least in the short term. In a recent downturn, not only have crypto prices fallen but the number of new tokens flooding the market has also increased. Could these developments lead to a pullback in VC investment in the crypto space? While venture capitalists appear to be taking a more cautious approach to their crypto investments for now, assessing market stability and adjusting their strategies accordingly, the underlying trends in the crypto market seem healthy. Projects that provide concrete value and bolster infrastructure are the ones that investors will likely continue to dump money into, but don’t mistake the lack of funding for projects that are still in the experimental stage as a death knell for innovation. While value and real-world infrastructure enable blockchain’s buildout alongside other transformative technologies, there’s fertile ground for innovative ideas to push the crypto space forward. To sum up, even though the softness of the current crypto market may have short-term implications for venture capital flowing into this space, it is not because investors have lost faith in the long-term prospects for blockchain technology and its integration into the real world. Quite the opposite: We are witnessing a few disruptive years in the tech market, and crypto still seems to be a key player in that dance. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news ! AMB Crypto

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Crypto Whale 0x373 Shifts from Meme Coin Hype to DeFi Potential with Major PENDLE Investment

One of the crypto world’s most influential whales, identified as 0x373, has shifted strategy. This whale , which has been under scrutiny for its huge holdings and trading activity, now appears to be withdrawing from the wild meme-coin market and parking its assets in the far-more-stable DeFi space. Recent trades indicate that 0x373 has stopped riding the meme coin hype wave and is now making a serious bet on DeFi assets, with purchases of $PENDLE. In an intriguing move, the whale unloaded a significant portion of its $PEPE holdings, which had been a staple in its portfolio. Specifically, the whale dumped 196.1 billion PEPE tokens, amounting to $1.3 million; it swapped these for 720.6 WETH (Wrapped Ether). This swap, priced at an average of $0.000006641 per PEPE, is the latest in a series of moves that show the whale growing more and more confident in the future potential of DeFi projects. A Shift Toward PENDLE: The Whale’s Bold Move Instead of keeping its freshly obtained ETH, the whale made yet another audacious move—using a hefty chunk of its WETH reserves to snap up 397,192 $PENDLE tokens. At $3.08 a pop, this buy totaled nearly $1.22 million. This shows the whale’s hand; it’s betting on the future of PENDLE, which as a decentralized finance token seems to be carving out an interesting niche. The token, it should be said, has been getting attention lately for its purported asset tokenization and yield optimization solutions. For three consecutive days, 0x373 has made significant trades that suggest he is becoming more and more convinced about PENDLE’s potential. The whale first traded PEPE, selling 261.2 billion of the assets for 1,060 WETH, which was worth approximately $1.94 million. Then, in a move that appears to directly counteract his first trade, the whale purchased 607,863 PENDLE tokens using 1,016 WETH. That amount was worth roughly $1.86 million, and he bought the tokens at an average price of $3.066 each. Even after these large trades, the whale’s investment in meme coins remains large. It holds a staggering 2.597 trillion PEPE tokens, worth about $18.05 million. On that investment, it’s made a profit of roughly $28.41 million, for a total return of around 5.25 times what it originally put into PEPE. A major crypto whale, 0x373, seems to be making a bold shift in strategy—trading meme coin hype for DeFi potential. Over the past 13 hours, the whale sold 196.1B $PEPE ($1.3M) and swapped it for 720.6 WETH, averaging $0.000006641 per PEPE. But it didn’t stop there. pic.twitter.com/iYoAuJahLg — EyeOnChain (@EyeOnChain) April 4, 2025 So, why did this whale recently swap some PEPE for PENDLE? One potential reason is that it reflects a shift in what sorts of assets the whale is holding. Compared to PEPE and other meme coins, PENDLE is a much more serious investment. The Bigger Picture: A Changing Crypto Landscape Whale’s movement from meme coins to DeFi reflects broader crypto market shifts. Despite meme coins like $PEPE captivating the public and giving people a feel for the potential scale of growth in the crypto market, we at Decrypt have begun to see some signs, or signals, that investors are questioning the future sustainability of these kinds of coins. Their value almost seems to sink or swim with the current price of ether. Conversely, decentralized finance schemes such as $PENDLE are gaining momentum for their real-world applications and their possible long-term value creation. PENDLE, which aims to focus on the tokenization of yield-bearing assets, has caught the attention of investors hunting for innovative ways to unlock liquidity and optimize returns in DeFi. This is a space where you must truly look beneath the surface, as much of what is going on in DeFi outside of PENDLE may appear pond scummy. And yet, the pivot toward DeFi in this crypto winter is also a pivot toward looking for value beyond the narrative we were fed in 2021. Whale 0x373 moving to PENDLE could be a sign of something very different from what we’ve seen before in this address. For 0x373, the apparent move from CRV to PENDLE could be an effort to maximize yield and liquidity and a step toward future-proofing these assets. DeFi has become a key pillar of the crypto ecosystem, and projects like PENDLE are positioned well within this space. If the address is holding these assets for the long term, it could signal something very different in terms of strategy for this whale. Looking Ahead: More PEPE-to-PENDLE Swaps? Considering the recent maneuvers by the whale—and its ongoing shift in strategy—it seems pretty likely we’ll be seeing more PEPE-to-PENDLE swaps in the days ahead. The huge amount of $PEPE still held by the whale—along with some pretty decent profits on that asset—suggests that the whale is still using PEPE as a key part of its overall portfolio, rebalancing into PENDLE and other DeFi plays as part of a larger emerging strategy. For the broader crypto community, the recent actions of 0x373 serve as a reminder that the biggest and most influential players in crypto are always adjusting their strategies to meet the market. While many investors find allure in meme coins, the move towards DeFi reflects a broader trend within crypto towards assets that have much more long-term utility and growth potential. As DeFi projects like PENDLE continue to mature, the space could see much more interest from large investors looking for innovative ways to use crypto in the real world. In summary, 0x373’s shift in strategy from meme coins to DeFi assets like PENDLE demonstrates the crypto market’s shifting nature. As the industry has grown up, investors who put their money where their mouth is have started focusing more on the types of projects that have actual long-term potential and real-world applications. Those of us who are trading and investing in DeFi may be trailblazing the next big movement within the crypto ecosystem. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services. Follow us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news ! AMB Crypto