Paradigm Successfully Raises $850M for Third Crypto Venture Fund

Venture capital firm Paradigm has closed its third fund to invest in early-stage cryptocurrency and blockchain-based projects.

According to an announcement on June 13, the VC firm completed the closing of an $850 million investment fund, making it one of the largest crypto fundraisers in history. Paradigm has been discussing the new fund in recent months following the crypto market recovery.

“When we founded Paradigm in 2018, we believed that crypto would be one of the most important technical and economic shifts of the coming decades. Six years later, that belief has only gotten stronger,” said Paradigm’s co-founder and managing partner, Matt Huang.

Paradigm has invested in several prominent cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, Fireblocks, Blast, Optimism, Uniswap, MakerDAO, Chainalies, MoonPay, Gitcoin, and Friend.tech, to name a few. The firm also invested $278 million in the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which wrote down its investment to zero in November 2022.

There has been speculation for months about the size of the new fund. In September 2023, The Information reported that the company was seeking a $1 billion capital raise. A few months later, in April, Bloomberg reported that Paradigm was in talks with investors about raising between $750 million and $850 million.

The new fund would be Paradigm’s largest raise since closing a $2.5 billion fund in November 2021.

Venture capital investment in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups has increased significantly. According to data from Galaxy Research, investors poured $2.49 billion into 603 deals in the first quarter of 2024, a 29% increase in fundraising and a 68% increase in deal value.

Another venture capital firm raising capital for a new crypto fund is Pantera Capital. The firm is reportedly seeking more than $1 billion for a new fund that will offer exposure to the “full spectrum” of blockchain assets. The fund is expected to launch in April 2025.