Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, topped the list of crypto-focused VCs in the first half of 2026 with 30 investment deals, according to data aggregator CryptoRank. Animoca Brands followed with 19 deals, while Silicon Valley heavyweight a16z recorded 18, and stablecoin issuer Tether completed 15.
Over the past 12 months, Coinbase Ventures maintained its lead with a peer-best 75 deals. Animoca Brands ranked second with 40 investments, followed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) at 39, GSR with 31, and a16z with 30.
This surge in deal activity comes despite a broader downturn in crypto fundraising. Total capital raised by cryptocurrency companies fell to $1.4 billion in June—a 63% drop from $3.8 billion in April. The number of funding rounds also declined, dropping to 61 in June from 89 in May. However, June showed modest recovery compared to April, when crypto VC funding hit a two-year low of $698 million across 71 rounds. As of mid-July, crypto firms have already raised $456 million across 12 funding rounds.
Top active investors and top categories by funding deals. Source: CryptoRank
Among Coinbase Ventures’ recent investments over the past six months, seven targeted payment protocols, four went to DeFi projects, and three each supported infrastructure and real-world asset tokenization initiatives. Meanwhile, the number of unique investors in the crypto space shrank significantly—to 242 in June from 452 in October 2025.
Decentralized finance (DeFi), payments, and AI remained the dominant categories for crypto VC funding over the past year. DeFi protocols led with 216 fundraising rounds, followed by payments startups with 131 rounds and AI-crypto ventures with 128. Infrastructure providers secured 110 rounds, while all other sectors recorded fewer than 100 each.
Crypto VC capital, invested by category, 1-year chart. Source: CryptoRank
Geographically, U.S.-based venture capital firms contributed $5.8 billion to crypto investments over the past six months, while Australian VCs deployed $3.6 billion. Notably, more than $11.6 billion originated from investors with undisclosed locations.