- Venture capital money flowing into crypto jumped over 50% from last year.
- Most of it has gone into infrastructure, AI-meets-crypto plays, and financial platforms.
- Oil broke past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022 as inflation looms.
According to recent industry data from Messari, venture capital money flowing into crypto jumped over 50% from last year, even though there were way fewer deals.
To be more precise, Messari data shows crypto fundraising jumped to over $25.5 billion in the year through March 2026, even though the number of deals dropped by 46%.
The data shows VCs are getting pickier, doing a reduced number of deals, but putting bigger money into projects they think will last. Lately, most of that cash has been flowing into infrastructure, AI-meets-crypto plays, and financial platforms, not random experimental tokens.
This mirrors a bigger shift in VC land after crypto took a hit in 2022-2023. Funding fell hard, down to about $12 billion in 2023 and $9 billion in 2024, before bouncing back as the market turned around.
There are likely several reasons why fewer startups are getting funded these days. One of them is that VCs are now putting money into proven teams and real infrastructure, and the hype regarding speculative token launches has faded.
Additionally, regulatory uncertainty still makes some investors cautious, and a lot of players would rather back later-stage deals or buyouts.
Oil Spikes as Strait of Hormuz Tensions Boil Over
Meanwhile, global markets are getting rattled by surging oil prices, driven by the Iran conflict and growing disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz.
Related: Crypto Supply Surge Ahead as $4.58B in Tokens Unlock This Week
Oil broke past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, after strikes on energy sites and growing threats to ships moving through the Persian Gulf.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important energy chokepoints in the world. Approximately 20% of the world’s crude moves through it, and any disruption there sends shockwaves through energy prices and feeds straight into inflation fears.
The CryptoQuant data points to a pattern that’s played out before, where big oil price rebounds often show up near the end of Bitcoin’s run.
When oil spikes, inflation tends to follow, which can keep central banks from cutting rates. This means less liquidity is available for risky assets like crypto. Also, energy shocks can dry up global liquidity and trigger a “risk-off” mood, impacting Bitcoin and other digital assets negatively.
Additionally, commodity rallies have sometimes occurred near the end of big liquidity cycles. That’s why some see oil surging as a possible red flag for crypto.
Related: Oil Jumps Above $90 as Iran Tensions Rise, Crypto Markets React
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