Crypto VC deals in November 2025 surge in value as Upbit acquisition reshapes funding landscape

Global funding data for November 2025 shows that crypto vc deals slowed in volume but surged in value, reshaping expectations across the digital asset sector.

Deal volume declines across crypto venture funding

According to RootData, the number of publicly disclosed crypto venture deals in November 2025 totaled 57. This marks a month-over-month decline of 28% compared with 79 projects in October 2025, and a year-over-year drop of 41% versus 96 projects in November 2024.

However, RootData notes that not all financings are disclosed in the month they close. As a result, these deal count figures may rise as additional transactions are reported, a pattern seen in previous months.

The sector distribution of November activity shows a broad spread across market segments. CeFi accounted for about 12.5% of deals, while DeFi represented roughly 30.4%. Moreover, NFT/GameFi stood at 1.8%, L1/L2 at 1.8%, RWA/DePIN at 7.1%, Tool/Wallet at 5.4%, and AI-related projects at 7.1%.

Financing amount soars on landmark Upbit transaction

While the count of financings fell, the total capital raised in November 2025 jumped sharply. RootData reports a combined financing amount of USD 14.54 billion, driven primarily by a single transaction involving leading Korean exchange Upbit.

The acquisition of Upbit alone accounted for USD 10.3 billion of that total, making it one of the largest transactions in blockchain acquisition news to date. Consequently, overall funding recorded a month-over-month increase of 219% compared with USD 4.556 billion in October 2025.

On a year-over-year basis, November 2025 financing volume surged 3,131% from just USD 450 million in November 2024. That said, the extraordinary size of the Upbit deal makes direct comparisons with typical monthly flows more complex.

Largest crypto VC deals and strategic financings

The dominant transaction of the month was Naver‘s agreement to acquire Upbit operator Dunamu in an all-stock deal worth approximately USD 10.3 billion. This marks the largest single financing event in crypto history and fundamentally reshapes the regional exchange landscape.

The acquisition values Naver Financial and Dunamu at around KRW 4.9 trillion and KRW 15.1 trillion, respectively. Through this share swap, Naver Finance will become Dunamu’s wholly owned parent company, further integrating digital asset services into Naver’s broader financial ecosystem.

In the first nine months of this year, Dunamu’s consolidated revenue grew 22% year-over-year to KRW 1.19 trillion. Moreover, trading platform operations, including Upbit, contributed about 97.9% of that revenue, underlining the centrality of exchange activity to its business model.

Beyond the Upbit acquisition deal, prediction market platform Kalshi closed a USD 1 billion round, lifting its valuation to USD 11 billion. This more than doubled its valuation from a financing less than two months earlier and signals strong investor interest in event-driven trading.

The funding was led by returning investors Sequoia and CapitalG, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, Anthos Capital, and Neo. However, competition in the prediction market space is intensifying, as Bloomberg reported that Kalshi’s main rival Polymarket is in talks to raise funds at a valuation between USD 12 billion and 15 billion.

In another sizable transaction, DRW Holdings and Liberty City Ventures signed a subscription agreement to initiate a private placement of approximately USD 540 million through publicly listed Tharimmune Inc.. Tharimmune will hold the native token, Canton, of the Canton public chain for financial transaction scenarios.

Earlier this year in June, DRW and Liberty City Ventures also participated in Digital Asset‘s USD 135 million funding round, which included Citadel Securities and Goldman Sachs. Together, these moves highlight how traditional trading firms are deepening exposure to tokenized financial infrastructure.

Major strategic rounds from Ripple, Kraken and Lava

Payments-focused blockchain company Ripple completed a USD 500 million funding round, pushing its valuation to USD 40 billion. The deal underscores how select late-stage projects can still attract large checks despite weaker overall crypto investment trends.

The round was led by entities associated with Fortress Investment Group and Citadel Securities, with additional backing from Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard, and funds managed by Marshall Wace. Moreover, the composition of investors shows strong participation from both hedge funds and specialist digital asset managers.

Crypto exchange Kraken secured a USD 200 million strategic investment from Citadel Securities, lifting its post-money valuation to USD 20 billion. Previously, in September, Kraken raised USD 600 million at a USD 15 billion valuation, bringing the two recent rounds to a combined USD 800 million.

Kraken stated that the fresh capital will support its global expansion and development of payments products. That said, the company’s fundraising also indicates that established exchanges can still draw substantial interest even as crypto vc deals overall become more selective.

BTC lending platform Lava announced an additional USD 200 million to expand its suite of bitcoin financial instruments. The capital came from global partners via a mix of venture and debt financing, with angel investors Anthony Pompliano and Eric Jackson also participating.

Monad token sale and wallet sector consolidation

Monad (MON), an ETH-compatible Layer-1 blockchain publicly sold on Coinbase, raised USD 188 million. The public sale offered 7.5% of the MON supply at 0.025 USDC per token, giving the project an FDV of USD 2.5 billion.

In the listed wallet segment, U.S.-traded Exodus Movement announced a USD 175 million acquisition of W3C Corp. The deal includes the crypto card and payments businesses Baanx and Monavate, reflecting continued consolidation in the wallet and payments niche.

The Exodus transaction is funded with company cash reserves and BTC-collateralized financing from Galaxy Digital. It is expected to close in 2026, pending customary regulatory and shareholder approvals.

In the U.K., the country’s largest retail bank, Lloyds Banking Group, signed a GBP 120 million (approximately USD 157.8 million) acquisition agreement with digital wallet provider Curve. Curve confirmed that it completed its share purchase agreement, but the sale valuation sits far below earlier financing levels.

This discount has generated strong dissatisfaction among some early shareholders. Curve had previously raised more than GBP 250 million cumulatively, and its CEO had warned that without a successful sale the company might run out of cash this year.

Institutional infrastructure also saw a notable move as Paxos Trust Company acquired crypto wallet startup Fordefi Inc. in a deal valued at more than USD 100 million. The price exceeds Fordefi’s USD 83 million valuation following its most recent funding round last year.

Fordefi’s MPC-based wallet is designed for both end-user digital wallets and institutional trading use cases. As a result, the acquisition strengthens Paxos’s technology stack at a time when secure custody remains central to the broader cryptocurrency market roundup.

Overall, November 2025 featured fewer disclosed transactions but a record concentration of value in large strategic financings. From the Upbit takeover to major exchange and infrastructure rounds, the month underscored how monthly crypto financing is increasingly driven by a small number of mega-deals.