Crypto Long & Short: Crypto VCs are mistaking consensus for discipline

Happy Wednesday,

This is your institutional newsletter, Crypto Long & Short. This week:

• Later-stage deals took 57% of crypto venture capital last quarter. Varun Datta of Truth Ventures argues the crowd is paying up for the wrong kind of safety.
• Top headlines institutions should pay attention to by Francisco Rodrigues
• “Robinhood chain daily DEX volume crosses $1 billion” in Chart of the Week

Thanks for joining us!

- Kim Klemballa

Crypto VCs are mistaking consensus for discipline

By Varun Datta, venture capitalist and CEO of Truth Ventures

Venture capital likes to think of itself as a risk-taking industry. The pitch decks and panel talks all say the same things: we spot visionary founders early, back unproven ideas, sit with uncertainty long enough for it to pay off. At least, that's how the industry portrays itself.

However, the data tells a different story.

According to Galaxy Research’s Q1 2026 crypto venture capital report, investors allocated about $1.1 billion to just eight new crypto venture funds, the lowest quarterly fund count since the third quarter of 2020. Later-stage companies attracted 57% of all capital deployed during the quarter, while pre-seed deals represented just 19% of completed transactions.

Capital has not disappeared, it has just shifted toward bigger checks for fewer companies, usually those that can already demonstrate product-market fit. What is being presented as discipline increasingly looks like a retreat from the founding stage that venture capital was created to serve.

This creates a problem for the venture capital industry, but it is also an opportunity for investors willing to break from the pack.

When funds wait for traction, a recognized category and somebody else’s term sheet to validate a company, they may reduce uncertainty, but they also pay a higher price and compete with every other investor pursuing the same small group of proven businesses. That is not contrarian investing. It is a consensus trade.

Many of the technologies that defined crypto’s previous cycle did not look inevitable when they first received funding. Layer-2 networks, DeFi protocols and essential developer tools were backed before their markets were established. Investors willing to commit during those quieter periods captured value that disappeared once the opportunity became obvious.

A similar window may be opening now. Founding-stage capital is scarce and sentiment remains cautious while AI has absorbed a growing share of investor attention. OECD analysis found that AI companies attracted 61% of global venture capital investment in 2025. Yet crypto founders are still building the infrastructure required for digital finance to reach mainstream users.