Crypto's $50 Billion Headline Masks a Consolidation-Driven Reality

2026-01-23 20:26:01

Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Crypto’s $50 billion lie masks a brutal reality where massive mergers are quietly killing off every new experiment Original Link: The crypto industry’s capital headline for 2025 looks like a comeback story: $50.6 billion across 1,409 transactions, up sharply from 2024’s totals.

However, the composition tells a different story.

According to the annual Crypto Fundraising Report, 43.7% of that capital came from just 21 mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Traditional venture capital and private investment accounted for $23.3 billion across 829 deals, while public sales and IPOs contributed $5.2 billion across 155 transactions.

The gap between the headline and the segmentation matters. In 2025, capital didn’t flood back into thousands of new crypto experiments.

Nearly half the dollars were in consolidation, with winners buying infrastructure, competitors, distribution, and compliance-ready assets. Total deal count fell 12.6% year over year, from 1,612 in 2024 to 1,409 in 2025.

The report quantifies the implications directly: M&A accounted for 83% of the year-over-year increase in capital, even as the number of funding rounds declined.

Why the numbers diverge and what that reveals

Multiple trackers reported different totals for 2025, and the discrepancies aren’t errors, but just scope decisions. DefiLlama data showed fundraising “reached over $25 billion in 2025.”

DefiLlama’s methodology explicitly focuses on raises involving tokens, equity, or warrants, and lists what it excludes: NFT sales, OTC transactions, and market-making agreements.

That framing naturally pushes it toward “fundraising” rather than “acquisition consideration paid.”

Architect Partners, a crypto-focused advisory firm, reported that disclosed M&A consideration reached $37 billion in 2025, 7.6 times 2024 levels, with transaction count 74% higher than the prior year.

The gap between $22.1 billion and $37 billion reflects different inclusion criteria: reverse mergers, public-shell transactions, and deals involving non-crypto acquirers can dramatically shift the totals.

The takeaway isn’t “who’s right.” It’s that some trackers report fundraising through equity and token rounds, while others blend in acquisition consideration and public-market events.

That’s how $25 billion can coexist with $50.6 billion without anyone lying.

Tracker / Dataset	2025 Headline Total	What It Includes	What It Tends to Exclude	Implication
Crypto Fundraising Report	$50.6B	A blended “capital” total that segments into VC/private, M&A, and public sales/IPO.	Not a “pure fundraising” lens; totals depend on disclosed amounts and segmentation choices across deal types.	Higher headline because it counts consolidation + public market events alongside VC-style fundraising. Best used for “where capital went,” not “VC raised.”
DefiLlama Raises	Over $25B	Raises-only dataset: rounds involving tokens, equity, or warrants.	Does not capture M&A consideration, and explicitly excludes NFT sales, OTC, market-making agreements.	Lower headline because it’s closer to “traditional fundraising”—good for VC cadence, but undershoots consolidation and some public-market flows.
Architect Partners (M&A Only)	$37B Disclosed Consideration	M&A-focused measurement of consideration paid; often broader on what qualifies as crypto M&A.	Not a fundraising total; can vary based on inclusion of reverse mergers, public-shell transactions, and non-crypto acquirers.	Higher M&A number if it includes more deal types or counts consideration differently. Best for “M&A cycle is back” claims.

TOKEN0,57%

VC-10,76%

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.