{"id":2246,"date":"2026-01-17T08:49:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/?p=2246"},"modified":"2026-01-17T08:49:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T13:49:30","slug":"crypto-vc-funding-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/crypto-vc-funding-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Crypto VC Funding Hits $513M as Alpaca, LMAX Secure Big Rounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"gb-block-image gb-block-image-5d4508f9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" class=\"gb-image gb-image-5d4508f9\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-17T191711.090.webp\" alt=\"Crypto VC Funding Hits $513M as Alpaca, LMAX Secure Big Rounds\" title=\"Untitled design - 2026-01-17T191711.090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-17T191711.090.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-17T191711.090-300x157.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-17T191711.090-768x402.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Crypto VC Funding<\/strong> saw a strong surge in mid-January, as investors poured more than half a billion dollars into the sector in just one week. Between January 11 and January 17, 2026, crypto and blockchain startups raised a combined <strong>$513.4 million across 15 projects<\/strong>, according to Cryptofundraising data. The funding activity was led by two major deals, with <strong>Alpaca and LMAX Group each securing $150 million<\/strong>.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The funding activity highlights continued investor confidence in core crypto infrastructure, trading platforms, and payment solutions, even as market conditions remain selective. Infrastructure, exchanges, and payments emerged as the most active categories, showing where capital is currently flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alpaca Reaches Unicorn Status<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alpaca, an API-based trading platform, raised <strong>$150 million in a Series D round<\/strong>, pushing its fully diluted valuation to <strong>$1.15 billion<\/strong>. The round was backed by <strong>DRIVE, Haun Ventures, and Opera<\/strong>. Alpaca provides APIs for trading stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies, making it a popular choice for fintech apps and brokerages. With this latest raise, the company has now secured <strong>$288.8 million in total funding<\/strong>, further strengthening its position in the trading infrastructure space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LMAX Group Draws Support From Ripple<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another major highlight was <strong>LMAX Group<\/strong>, which also raised <strong>$150 million<\/strong> in an undisclosed funding round. The investment was backed by <strong>Ripple<\/strong>, signaling strong interest in institutional-grade trading and liquidity solutions. While details around the valuation and round structure were not disclosed, the size of the investment underscores LMAX Group\u2019s growing role in global digital asset markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasdaq.com\/glossary\/r\/regional-stock-exchanges\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Regional Exchanges <\/a>and Infrastructure Gain Ground<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indonesia-based crypto exchange <strong>ICEx<\/strong> raised <strong>$70 million<\/strong> in an unknown round, reflecting continued expansion of crypto adoption in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, <strong>Upexi<\/strong> secured <strong>$36 million<\/strong>, backed by <strong>HiveMind<\/strong>, bringing its total funding to <strong>$136 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bitcoin-focused infrastructure also attracted attention. <strong>Project Eleven<\/strong>, a Bitcoin infrastructure and security platform, raised <strong>$20 million in a Series A round<\/strong> at a <strong>$120 million fully diluted valuation<\/strong>. The round included investors such as <strong>Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Lattice<\/strong>, showing ongoing interest in strengthening Bitcoin\u2019s core rails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Payments and Stablecoins Stay in Focus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>VelaFi<\/strong> raised <strong>$20 million in a Series B round<\/strong>, supported by <strong>XVC, Ikkuyo, and Annox<\/strong>, while also adding two new investors. The project operates in finance, infrastructure, payments, and stablecoins, offering payment-focused stablecoin infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Smaller Rounds Fill Out the Week<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several early- and mid-stage projects also closed funding rounds under $15 million. These included <strong>Konnex ($15M strategic round)<\/strong>, <strong>XMAQUINA ($10M)<\/strong>, <strong>Veera ($10M seed)<\/strong>, <strong>TBook ($10M)<\/strong>, <strong>Noise ($7.1M seed)<\/strong>, <strong>Meld ($7M)<\/strong>, <strong>Neuramint ($5M seed)<\/strong>, <strong>TROVE ($2.5M public sale)<\/strong>, and <strong>Saturn Labs (USDsat) ($800,000 angel round)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, the week\u2019s funding activity shows that while investors remain cautious, capital continues to flow steadily into platforms building the essential infrastructure that supports the broader crypto ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/bitcoin-29\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bitcoin Breakout Faces Risk as Weak Volume Signals Possible Rejection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crypto VC Funding saw a strong surge in mid-January, as investors poured more than half a billion dollars into the &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Crypto VC Funding Hits $513M as Alpaca, LMAX Secure Big Rounds\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/crypto-vc-funding-3\/#more-2246\" aria-label=\"Read more about Crypto VC Funding Hits $513M as Alpaca, LMAX Secure Big Rounds\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[3492,3494,3493,3490,3489,3497,3496,3495,3491,3488],"class_list":["post-2246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-alpaca-series-d-funding-crypto","tag-bitcoin-infrastructure-funding","tag-blockchain-startup-funding-news","tag-crypto-exchange-funding-asia","tag-crypto-infrastructure-investment","tag-crypto-vc-funding-january-2026","tag-lmax-group-ripple-investment","tag-stablecoin-payment-infrastructure-funding","tag-web3-venture-capital-trends","tag-weekly-crypto-funding-report","resize-featured-image"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-17T191711.090.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2248,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2246\/revisions\/2248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- This website is optimized by Airlift. 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