Digital Asset Reserves Become Mainstream in VC Investments: A Sharp Decline in Early-Stage Venture Capital Cases, Is Capital Allocation Undergoing a Comprehensive Restructuring?

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VC Shows Decreased Interest in Early-Stage Startups

Why DAT Attracts Capital

Investment Focus Returns to Fundamentals

Potential and Undervalued Areas

Market Outlook and Restructuring Expectations for DAT

Since 2025, the focus of capital in the cryptocurrency venture capital market has significantly shifted towards the “Digital Asset Treasury” (DAT) model, with almost all major fundraising efforts related to DAT, while traditional crypto startup rounds have noticeably decreased. According to data from The Block Pro, from 2025 to now, there have only been 856 crypto venture rounds excluding DAT and token sales, a decline of 56% compared to 1,933 rounds during the same period last year.

Although the total fundraising amount from January to August this year is not significantly different from last year (dropping from $8.13 billion to $8.05 billion), when excluding Binance’s single $2 billion fundraising in March, the amount for traditional venture capital is only $6.05 billion, reflecting an annual decrease of about 26%.

The main reason venture capital institutions are optimistic about DAT is its ability to instantly reflect market prices, providing quicker liquidity compared to traditional venture capital, as well as the potential to raise funds through additional issuance when market prices exceed the net asset value (mNAV), further boosting net asset value per share.

The purpose of mNAV is to measure the ratio of DAT stock price relative to the per-share value of the held crypto assets; if there is a trading premium, it indicates that the market is willing to pay a price exceeding the actual asset value, creating refinancing space for the company.

Currently, liquidity funds are the primary participants, while some VCs view DAT as a “fund parking zone,” waiting for ideal venture opportunities to reinvest. Ed Roman, co-founder of Hack VC, pointed out that the short-term attractiveness is evident, but Michael Bucella, co-founder of Neoclassic Capital, believes the real test lies in whether the mNAV multiples for Bitcoin and altcoin-type DAT can be maintained in the long term.

At present, VCs are generally starting to reduce bets on early-stage ventures, shifting to seek agreements with clear value capture and revenue. Both Bucella and Roman mentioned Hyperliquid as an example, as the project returns a significant amount of revenue to token holders, becoming a benchmark for startups.

Cosmo Jiang, a partner at Pantera Capital, stated that the market’s capital destruction of “non-fundamental value tokens” is a healthy adjustment, forcing VCs to abandon the previous speculative model of “launching tokens first, then thinking about the product.” Diogo Mónica, a partner at Haun Ventures, described this shift as “the pendulum has swung back to equity and revenue, moving away from ‘launching coins and then figuring out how to make them work’.”

Mónica added that the previously rampant “scattergun” financing proposals have been replaced by teams that possess revenue, compliance, and channels, with a focus on stablecoin-related areas. Bucella also believes that the current valuations of strong founders are more reasonable, providing investors with greater negotiation space.

However, this does not mean that VCs have completely withdrawn from investing in early-stage crypto startups. In terms of potential and undervalued areas, most venture capital institutions still favor sectors with long-term growth prospects. For instance, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) have garnered attention due to their novel concepts, while DeFi yield protocols are considered resilient; even with current low market valuations, their revenue models have been validated.

Additionally, zero-knowledge technology (ZK) has shown significant potential in bringing off-chain data into on-chain applications. Furthermore, on-chain intellectual property, on-chain capital markets, gaming, decentralized social media, and the integration of crypto and AI are all seen as worthy directions for long-term bets.

As for the future of the DAT market, most VCs believe it will exist long-term, but it will inevitably undergo a period of intense elimination. Michael Bucella of Neoclassic Capital predicts that the NAV premium for Bitcoin-type DAT will ultimately compress to between 1.03 and 1.07 times, while Ethereum-type DAT will be around 1.1 times, at which point 95% of trading volume will concentrate on a few leading products. Jack Platts, founder of Hypersphere Ventures, believes the real question is when the majority of DAT will transition to discounted trading and how many will be able to rebound at that time.

Cosmo Jiang of Pantera Capital predicts that in the long run, only two or three large DATs among major asset classes like BTC, ETH, and SOL will remain, while other large-cap assets may only retain one or two, and smaller DATs will ultimately be consolidated. Ravi Kaza, chief investment officer at Arrington Capital, warned that the current market has fostered a large number of “trend-following” DAT strategies, which could lead to a severe market clearing once the market enters the next downturn.