Author:Yogita Khatri
Translated by: Bai Hua Blockchain
In the past few days, the cryptocurrency world has been in turmoil, with Bit reaching over $93,000 after Trump's election victory. Recalling when I started writing about cryptocurrencies in 2018, Bit was only around $3,000, and now I have witnessed the rapid development of this market.
I spoke with dozens of cryptocurrency venture capitalists, and although everyone was excited about Trump's victory and the rise of Bit, most of them still stick to their long-term investment plans. However, some investors are also adjusting their strategies, focusing more on new trends and changes in the political and market environment.
Lasse Clausen, founding partner of 1kx, said: "The excitement across the industry is justified. It is difficult for outsiders to understand the suppression of innovation by the previous administration, and now founders can freely experiment, which will lead to many exciting new products."
Arianna Simpson, a partner at a16z crypto, expressed a similar view, pointing out that "the past few years have been challenging for the crypto industry," but she expects major policy changes to greatly benefit Web3 builders and companies.
With the prospect of a Trump administration bringing clarity to crypto regulation, investors expect to see more founders entering the Web3 space. Earlier this week, Portal Ventures, founded by former Insight Partners investor Evan Fisher, raised $75 million for its second fund focused on investing in crypto startups. Fisher believes that successful entrepreneurs who previously hesitated to enter the crypto field due to legal and regulatory risks will now be more proactive. He said: "We will see more top-tier founders gradually entering the crypto industry."
Jake Brukhman, founder and CEO of CoinFund, said the company is preparing for an impending "super cycle" in the crypto market. CoinFund has ample capital for seed, venture, and liquidity investments, and has added six new members this year, five of whom joined in the past two to three months.
1. Betting on Crypto - Areas like Crypto-AI, DeFi, etc.
Looking ahead, crypto VCs are focusing on high-potential tracks, including Crypto-AI, DeFi, RWA (Real World Asset) Tokenization, infrastructure, stablecoins, and payments.
Many investors believe the combination of crypto and AI is the next disruptive trend. Ed Roman, co-founder and managing partner of Hack VC, called Crypto-AI the "hottest category in crypto right now" and foresees a multi-layered Web3 AI ecosystem that leverages the cost-effectiveness of decentralized computing networks. He believes: "This market, when serving Web2 customers, can reach a scale of trillions of dollars. AI, unlike Non-Fungible Tokens, is creating real business value and may be the most important technological innovation since the mobile phone and the internet."
However, Roman pointed out that the healthy development of Crypto-AI largely depends on the performance of the Web2 AI field, especially NVIDIA. Therefore, Hack VC is closely monitoring NVIDIA as a "loose indicator" for Crypto-AI.
Balder Bomans, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of Maven 11 Capital, believes that Crypto-AI startups will grow, particularly optimistic about decentralized DePIN protocols that provide computing resources for AI model training. CoinFund's Brukhman added that most retail investors hoping to venture into AI may achieve this goal through cryptocurrencies next year. "AITokens are scarce and in high demand. The summer of 2025 will be the summer of decentralized AI (deAI)," he said.
Another investment focus is the resurgence of DeFi as institutional adoption increases. Hack VC's Roman stated that DeFi has recently been impacted by the increased attractiveness of US Treasuries due to high interest rates. However, it is expected that Trump will cut interest rates, which may give DeFi an advantage in competing with traditional finance (TradFi) tools like Treasuries. He sees DeFi as a "once-in-a-century" opportunity to greatly simplify financial processes.
Clausen of 1kx pointed out that traditional financial institutions may realize RWA on-chain and use DeFi infrastructure on a large scale. "Just think about how complex trading, clearing, and settlement are in traditional finance, while on decentralized exchange (DEX) platforms, these operations can be completed in a single transaction, with no counterparty risk, and the transparency of the transaction can be publicly verified. It's like 'fishing with dynamite,' effortless," Clausen said.
Erick Zhang, managing partner of Nomad Capital and former Binance executive, also believes DeFi is poised for growth, especially in the context of increased Altcoin activity and challenges facing centralized exchange platforms. Will Nuelle, general partner at Galaxy Ventures, and Thomas Klocanas of BlockTower Capital are also optimistic about the expansion of DeFi, RWA Tokenization, stablecoins, and payments.
Nuelle said: "After Trump takes office, one of the biggest obstacles to the adoption of stablecoins in payments - the banking relationship with the fiat system - becomes smoother. We hope and expect that banks that legally serve cryptocurrencies will no longer fear retaliation from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or other agencies, which will help banks better integrate with the growing use cases."
2. Consumer Applications and Infrastructure Categories Also Gaining Attention
Simpson of a16z crypto said: "I'm particularly excited about consumer applications in crypto, as this category was severely impacted by the policies of the previous administration. We remain very focused on the continued development of DePIN and infrastructure projects."
Alvaro Gracia, a partner at Borderless Capital, also noted that with the shift of Bit's dominance to Altcoins, the DeFi and DePIN sectors are expected to see growth. His $100 million DePIN fund currently has about $70 million available for investment over the next two to three years, and he is particularly optimistic about such projects.
Clausen of 1kx added that the company's focus is on infrastructure, middleware, and consumer applications, especially those that require bank integration, which were previously hindered by regulatory constraints.
Adam Winnick, Managing Partner of Finality Capital Partners, is optimistic about the infrastructure vertical, particularly emphasizing re-pledging and zero-knowledge technology startups. Miko Matsumura, Managing Partner of Gumi Cryptos Capital, focuses on base-layer and scalability infrastructure projects, aiming to solve "normal people's normal problems" rather than just "problems within the crypto industry."
At the same time, some investors' enthusiasm for infrastructure has waned. Bomans of Maven 11 mentioned that the company's investment focus has shifted to application-layer projects over the past year, as powerful monolithic chains have emerged and modular technology stacks have continued to improve.
Evan Fisher of Portal Ventures said the team has invested less in infrastructure projects, preferring commercial startups with clear distribution advantages and user demand.
Zhang of Nomad Capital also mentioned that they are more cautious about infrastructure projects, especially Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. He believes that "most infrastructure projects are essentially 'infrastructure memes,' and their success often depends on the ability of the founding team to effectively manage the narrative and branding, but the number of teams with this unique dynamic is limited."
3. Potential Risks from the Trump Administration
Although Trump's election as president has brought new optimism to the crypto industry, several VCs have warned of potential risks that could impact the industry's development.
Clausen of 1kx expressed concern about Trump's immigration policy, believing that a reduced labor supply could lead to persistent wage inflation, which could be a negative factor for risk assets like cryptocurrencies.
Nuelle of Galaxy Ventures pointed out that if Trump is "too laissez-faire" towards the crypto industry, it could repeat the FTX debacle. He believes that balanced bipartisan legislation and a clear position on digital assets can create the most stable long-term value for the market.
Zhang of Nomad Capital mentioned that if bold proposals such as Bit becoming a US strategic reserve asset fail to materialize quickly, it could lead to a waning of market enthusiasm and a loss of momentum in the "Trump effect."
According to Roman of Hack VC, the key issue is whether the US will actively accumulate new , or only hold the existing confiscated . In either case, it is positive for the crypto market. However, if the US actively accumulates , it may lead to imitation by other countries, which will have a more far-reaching impact on global policies, and the impact on the entire crypto market will be more profound.
