Key Takeaways:

• According to Cryptorank data as of February 5th, 2025, the Web3 industry secured 148 funding deals in January 2025, totaling $1.44 billion.
• Compared to December 2024, both the number of deals and total funding amount fell, with month-over-month decreases of 9.75% and 53.24%, respectively.
• January’s major funding centered on two categories: mergers and acquisitions (including Chainalysis’s acquisition of Alterya and MoonPay’s purchase of Helio), and token purchase commitments (such as Bluwhale and Tea-Fi).
• Blockchain services and CeFi became investment hotspots in January 2025, with blockchain services leading at $656 million in total funding.
• Small and medium-sized funding dominated the market, with projects in the $1–10 million range making up 52.9% of deals, while large projects over $50 million constituted just 6.3%.
• Seed rounds made up the largest share at 36% of all deals, while Series C and Series A rounds captured higher average funding amounts at 24.4% and 21.2% of total funding, respectively.
• Looking at sector distribution, blockchain services was the key area for investment institutions, with almost all institutions having involvement in this sector.

Funding Overview

According to Cryptorank data as of February 5, 2025, the Web3 industry completed 148 funding rounds in January 2025, with a total value of $1.44 billion.[1]

Compared to December 2024, both the number of funding deals and total funding amount decreased by 9.75% and 53.24% respectively. Although January’s funding amount showed a 120.4% increase compared to the same period last year, there has been a notable decline from December 2024’s peak.

It’s worth noting that January 2025 saw a significant reduction in large funding events. Unlike Q4 2024, which featured major acquisitions or deals every month, January saw only three funding rounds over $100 million—half of December’s total. This dramatic reduction likely explains January’s steep decline in total funding. The slowdown may represent a natural cooling-off period after Q4 2024’s intense funding activity.

Although Web3 industry funding in January 2025 declined from December 2024’s peak, it maintained relatively high levels. Analysis of January’s Top 10 funding projects reveals the following characteristics: [2]

• January’s major funding focused on two key areas: mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and token purchase commitments. In the M&A space, Chainalysis acquired Alterya while MoonPay purchased Helio, showing how industry leaders are expanding market share through consolidation. The token purchase commitments, exemplified by Bluwhale and Tea-Fi, served dual purposes—raising capital while strengthening community engagement and project governance.
• Blockchain services, the integration of AI with Web3, and the entry of traditional financial institutions have become key investment hotspots. Among them, the CeFi (Centralized Finance) sector stands out, with the Top 10 major funding projects almost entirely focused in this area, including payment platforms, digital asset custody, and banking projects such as Helio, Komainu, and Sygnum. The continued involvement of traditional financial institutions, such as SoftBank’s investment in Cipher Mining, reflects their strong interest in blockchain technology. Additionally, the Bluwhale project, which applies AI to crypto trading, demonstrates the deep integration trend between AI and Web3.
• Security and compliance gained significant attention, with multiple projects like Alterya, Komainu, and Sygnum focusing on blockchain security and compliance. This reflects growing investor demand for asset security and regulatory compliance as the cryptocurrency market matures.
  The top 10 funding projects in January 2025 were:

According to Cryptorank data, blockchain service and CeFi emerged as investment hotspots in January 2025, while interest in DeFi and Social sectors cooled down.

• Blockchain Services Takes the Lead: The blockchain services sector led with $656 million in funding, with projects like Alterya, Phantom, and Cipher Mining receiving large investments. This clearly demonstrates the strong market demand for underlying services and infrastructure solutions, closely tied to the expanding Web3 ecosystem and growing need for secure, efficient, and scalable blockchain solutions.
• CeFi Follows Closely: The CeFi sector ranked second with $402 million in funding. Major developments—including MoonPay’s acquisition of Helio, Komainu’s successful funding round, and Sygnum’s strategic financing—show traditional financial institutions rapidly expanding into Web3. While MoonPay strengthens its crypto payment services through strategic acquisitions, Komainu and Sygnum are developing digital asset custody and banking services, accelerating the convergence of traditional finance and Web3.
• DeFi Sector Shows Lower Funding: The DeFi sector ranked fourth, securing $89.65 million in funding—a notable decrease from the previous two years. This decline can be attributed to stricter regulatory oversight, increased market competition, and the failure of several prominent DeFi projects.
• Mixed Performance in Other Sectors: Although the Social sector gained attention in December 2024 due to Tether’s investment in Rumble and Lens Protocol’s successful funding, its momentum decreased in January 2025. Several sectors including Chain, Social, and GameFi showed low overall funding, with investors maintaining a cautious outlook on their long-term development potential. Notably, the Meme sector saw a slight increase in funding, possibly related to the continued popularity of meme culture.

Based on data from 96 projects with disclosed funding amounts in January 2025:

• Small and medium-sized funding dominates: Projects under $1 million accounted for 16.7%, while projects between $1-10 million made up 52.9% of all deals, indicating strong investor interest in small and medium-sized projects.
• Large funding projects remain limited: Projects exceeding $50 million represented only 6.3% of the total, showing little change compared to December 2024.

Looking at funding rounds, among the 75 projects that disclosed their funding stages, seed rounds accounted for the highest number of projects at 36%, indicating strong market interest in early-stage projects. This was followed by strategic rounds at 32%, where strategic investors - typically large tech companies, traditional financial institutions, or government agencies - positioned themselves in the Web3 ecosystem.

While seed round projects were the most numerous, they had relatively small individual funding amounts. In contrast, Series C and Series A rounds attracted larger investments, accounting for 24.4% and 21.2% of total funding respectively—together comprising nearly half of all funding. This distribution shows that several projects have matured to Series C and Series A stages, demonstrating the strong growth potential that attracts substantial investments. The pattern reflects how Web3 projects’ capital needs evolve: early-stage ventures raise smaller amounts more frequently, while established projects require larger funding rounds to fuel expansion.

According to Cryptorank data as of February 5, 2025, OKX Ventures and Folius Ventures ranked as the most active investment institutions in January 2025, with 10 and 8 funding rounds. Notably, while Animoca Brands was active throughout 2024, its number of investment rounds decreased slightly in January, placing it fifth. Looking at sector distribution, blockchain services emerged as a key focus area for investment institutions, with nearly all institutions involved in this sector. GameFi (shown in light blue) and DeFi (shown in black) were also popular, attracting significant institutional participation. In comparison, institutional investments in other sectors, such as Chain and Social, remained more dispersed.

Key Funded Projects in January

Phantom

Introduction: Phantom is a non-custodial browser extension designed for the Solana blockchain. The Phantom wallet enables users to securely store, send, and receive digital assets, while interacting with decentralized applications (dApps) in the Solana ecosystem. Users can easily store, buy, send, receive, and trade tokens and NFTs on Solana.[3]

On January 16, Phantom announced the completion of a $150 million Series C funding round co-led by Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, reaching a $3 billion valuation. The company plans to use the funding to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption and transform itself into the world’s largest consumer financial platform. This follows its Series B funding in 2022, which raised $109 million.[4]

Investors/Angel Investors: Sequoia Capital, Paradigm, a16z, Variant, and others.

Highlights:

1. Phantom is popular for its speed, low transaction fees, intuitive user interface, and robust security features. The Phantom wallet interface is clean and intuitive, accessible to both newcomers and experienced users, allowing users to easily manage their cryptocurrency without extensive technical knowledge. Additionally, Phantom wallet implements multiple security measures to protect users’ cryptocurrency, including backup and recovery functions, wallet password protection, and two-factor authentication.
2. Initially focused on the Solana ecosystem, Phantom wallet has rapidly expanded its support to cover multiple mainstream blockchains including Ethereum, Bitcoin, Base, and Polygon. This major multi-chain upgrade allows users to manage various digital assets in a single wallet. More notably, Phantom’s new cross-chain exchanger enables users to directly bridge ERC-20 tokens from Ethereum to Solana and convert them to USDC within the wallet. This feature greatly simplifies cross-chain operations and enhances user experience. Furthermore, Phantom offers a Refuel feature, allowing users to cross-chain transfer and exchange tokens for SOL to pay transaction fees without prior preparation.
3. Since its launch in 2021, Phantom has grown rapidly, with official claims of 15 million monthly active users, supporting 85 billion on-chain transactions, and managing $25 billion in self-custodied assets. According to App Store data, Phantom ranked among the top nine free iPhone applications in November 2024, second only to Google’s search engine app.[5]
4. In January 2025, Phantom wallet’s in-app exchange fees reached $29 million, hitting an all-time high. Previously, Phantom strengthened its platform security and infrastructure through the acquisition of Bitski and Blowfish. Looking ahead, Phantom will increase its investment in social features and peer-to-peer payments to further enhance user experience.[6]

SoSoValue

Introduction: SoSoValue is an AI-driven investment and research platform that aggregates vast amounts of data to transform complex crypto information into intuitive investment insights. The platform offers features such as an automated classification system, professional analysis tools, and real-time data monitoring, providing users with comprehensive on-chain and off-chain data to assist in making more informed investment decisions. Additionally, SoSoValue has also pioneered the use of index tokens, using AI-driven strategies to make cryptocurrency investing more accessible.[7]

On January 8, SoSoValue announced the completion of a $15 million Series A funding round, bringing its valuation to $200 million. The funding will primarily be used for the SoSoValue Indices (SSI) reserve fund.[8]

Investors/Angel Investors: Sequoia China, SmallSpark, Mirana Ventures, Safepal, and others.

Highlights：

1. SoSoValue provides users with a comprehensive set of investment research tools and innovative investment products, including real-time news aggregation, industry insights, on-chain data analysis, and on-chain spot ETF protocol (SSI). SSI allows users to easily build diversified crypto asset portfolios through index tokens, lowering the investment barrier. Additionally, SoSoValue’s AI-driven analysis tools help users better understand the market and make more informed investment decisions.
2. Since its inception, SoSoValue has attracted over 10 million registered users. The platform’s on-chain spot index protocol (SSI) launched in late 2024 has gained significant attention, with its MAG7.ssi index token being particularly noteworthy. MAG7.ssi tracks the performance of seven major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, providing investors with a simple and efficient investment method. Through its intelligent monthly rebalancing mechanism, MAG7.ssi maintains optimal asset allocation, outperforming Bitcoin in both returns and risk control over the past three years.
3. SoSoValue will launch a staking event on February 25th, offering 3% of $SOSO tokens as rewards—valued at up to $30 million. Users who hold SSI index tokens before February 25th will receive an additional 0.1% reward share, which on-chain data shows is worth approximately $1 million, with an APY of 2,774%. This significant return for early supporters showcases SoSoValue’s dedication to its community.

Tea-Fi

Introduction: Tea-Fi is a comprehensive one-stop DeFi application designed to provide users with secure and convenient decentralized financial services. Through the use of smart contracts, Tea-Fi integrates various DeFi products into a single platform, allowing users to complete different DeFi operations without switching between multiple platforms. The platform supports decentralized trading, cross-chain token exchange, liquidity mining, and various other DeFi services.[9]

On January 13, Tea-Fi announced it had secured a $35 million token investment commitment from Rollman Management Digital to support the launch of its innovative platform for digital asset management.[10]

Investors: Rollman Management Digital and others.

Highlights:

1. Tea-Fi aims to build a one-stop DeFi platform by integrating multiple DeFi services, addressing the current fragmentation in the DeFi market. Users can seamlessly perform various operations, such as trading and lending on the platform. To ensure user privacy, Tea-Fi employs advanced technologies such as Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) and Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) to maintain data security throughout transactions.
2. Tea-Fi seamlessly blends DeFi flexibility with CeFi convenience. Its Easy-Gas feature lets users complete transactions without needing multiple native tokens, while cross-chain support enables smooth asset transfers between blockchains. The platform also features a built-in yield engine for diverse value-added services and employs zero-knowledge proof technology in its privacy layer to protect user data.
3. Tea-Fi has launched several innovative features, including: a Visa debit card allowing users to obtain credit limits based on over-collateralization; the TeaClub loyalty rewards program, where users can earn platform profit sharing through participation in platform activities; and an uncollateralized lending feature where users can use rewards earned through TeaClub as collateral; these innovative features enhance the user experience.

Oshi

Introduction: Oshi is a blockchain-based open anime platform that provides fans with direct channels to support their favorite anime projects and receive exclusive benefits. The platform’s IP licensing mechanism gives IP owners control over their works while enabling connections with global partners.[11]

On January 20, Oshi announced the completion of a $12.5 million funding round, led by Polychain Capital and Superscrypt. The funding will be used for platform development and driving the decentralized transformation of the anime industry.[12]

Investors/Angel Investors: Polychain Capital, Superscrypt, Folius Ventures, Sfermion, The Spartan Group, Nomad Capital, CMT Digital, and others.

Highlights:

1. Oshi redefines the relationship between fans, creators, and licensors, transforming fans from passive consumers into IP co-creators. Through NFTs and voting mechanisms, fans can directly participate in IP creation and development processes, gaining stronger decision-making power. The platform’s rich social features promote fan community engagement and enhance users’ sense of belonging and achievement.
2. Oshi leverages blockchain technology and a diversified business model to create new monetization opportunities for creators and IP owners. Through tokenization and derivative product development, fans can actively participate in IP co-creation and receive corresponding rewards. Oshi lowers the entry barriers for creators, encouraging greater participation and enthusiasm, while also offering fans more ways to engage and interact. This approach drives the growth and prosperity of the entire content ecosystem.
3. Oshi envisions a transformed anime industry with seamless global access to Japanese anime IP where fans can directly participate in their favorite anime projects. Meanwhile, Oshi provides creators with powerful tools to better manage IP and achieve global operations. Through transparent blockchain mechanisms, Oshi ensures clear copyright ownership and fair distribution of returns, breaking the limitations of traditional centralized platforms and driving innovation in the anime industry.

Bluwhale

Introduction: Bluwhale is an AI and Web3 project that enables users to better control their personal data and profit from it by selectively sharing their Web3 wallet data. Through blockchain technology, Bluwhale enables personalized, precise on-chain message delivery and ad placement while protecting user privacy. Bluwhale’s vision is to make AI more accessible to small businesses and give individual users data ownership so they can benefit from their data.[13]

On January 28, Bluwhale secured $100 million in funding through multiple channels: $7 million in venture capital, $85 million in token purchase commitments, and $8 million from node sales and grants. The company will use these funds to expand its Web3 intelligence layer across various L1 and L2 blockchains. [14]

Investors: DWF Labs, Cointelegraph, SwissBorg Ventures, MV Global, Moon Capital, Awaken Finance, Arbitrum Foundation, Movement Labs, and others.

Highlights:

1. Bluwhale’s unique advantage lies in its decentralized AI workload distribution mechanism, where individuals can easily contribute data and computing resources through nodes on mobile devices. This model breaks the data monopoly of traditional Web2 platforms while ensuring fair participation and reward mechanisms. The platform uses innovative user-specific knowledge graphs for highly personalized experiences while strictly respecting user data sovereignty. Users maintain full control over their data, choosing which information to share with third parties—striking an ideal balance between privacy protection and personalized services.
2. The platform gives users complete control over their digital footprint and allows a precise selection of data shared with businesses. Privacy-focused wallet holders can block incoming messages or hide personal information at any time. Additionally, message senders can obtain discounts by reserving slots early and later resell them at premium prices during high-demand periods. This creates a flexible system that offers economic opportunities for participants while providing a win-win solution for both users and message senders.
3. Bluwhale has partnered with 180 companies, and its AI platform is currently in public beta testing, having successfully indexed over 270 million wallets, demonstrating strong market coverage. Through its innovative on-chain dynamic pricing message system, any Web3 company can safely and efficiently connect with wallet holders, transforming traditional digital communication into a market-driven incentive model. Wallet holders earn rewards based on their popularity, and can claim earnings from their public on-chain profile simply by connecting their wallet and verifying their identity through social media.
4. Bluwhale provides comprehensive wallet information through AI-driven big data analysis. Its dashboard is more than just a data visualization tool—it deeply analyzes the essence of data, highlights key metrics, and examines the impact of on-chain activities on user behavior. Bluwhale’s AI integrates the precision of data science with the innovation of blockchain, not only processing data but also predicting trends to help users make smarter decisions. In the cryptocurrency space, information is a core asset, and Bluwhale is committed to delivering the latest and most comprehensive insights, enabling users to seize opportunities ahead of the competition.

Summary

In January 2025, the Web3 industry maintained momentum but experienced a slowdown in funding, with 148 deals totaling $1.44 billion. Compared to December 2024, funding activity declined—deals decreased by 9.75% and total funding amount fell by 53.24%. Blockchain services and CeFi emerged as investment hotspots, while mergers and acquisitions became the primary expansion strategy for industry leaders seeking rapid market share growth. Small and medium-scale funding projects dominated the landscape, reflecting strong market interest in early-stage ventures. The Web3 industry’s dynamism was further evidenced by the rapid growth of leading projects like Phantom, SoSoValue, Tea-Fi, Oshi, and Bluwhale.


References：

1. Cryptorank ,https://cryptorank.io/funding-analytics
2. Cryptorank,https://cryptorank.io/funding-rounds
3. Phantom ,https://phantom.com/
4. Phantom ,https://phantom.com/learn/blog/phantom-series-c
5. The Block,https://www.theblock.co/post/335305/phantom-wallet-raises-150-million-at-3-billion-valuation
6. Defillama,https://defillama.com/protocol/phantom#fees-revenue
7. SoSoValue,https://sosovalue.com/zh?from=moved
8. Fortune Crypto,https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/01/08/crypto-data-platform-sosovalue-funding-multi-coin-indices/
9. Tea-Fi,https://tea-fi.com/
10. Cointelegraph ,https://cointelegraph.com/press-releases/tea-fi-secures-35-million-investment-commitments-from-rollman-management-digital
11. Oshi,https://www.oshi.co/
12. X,https://x.com/oshikatsu_co/status/1880318825952051605
13. Bluwhale,https://www.bluwhale.com/
14. Techfundingnews,https://techfundingnews.com/silicon-valleys-bluwhale-founded-by-standford-and-tiktok-alums-raises-100m-to-redefine-web3-with-ai/

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