Top Categories by Raised Amount in Summer
Roughly $2.86B across seven categories this summer, and the split says a lot about where builders think the next users come from:
• Exchanges - $700M
• Payments - $537M
• Blockchains - $468M
• Mining & Compute - $433M
• DeFi - $309M
• AI - $262M
• Brokerage - $150M
Exchanges, payments and brokerage together take $1.39B - nearly half of everything raised. That's not protocol money, it's distribution money: the venues where people actually buy, hold and move funds. Investors are funding the front door rather than the machinery behind it.
DeFi at $309M is the number that stands out. The category that once was crypto venture now sits fifth, below mining and compute infrastructure. Composable yield primitives aren't a funding thesis anymore - the products got built, the winners are entrenched, and new capital doesn't see room for another lending market.
AI at $262M is the other surprise. For a narrative that dominates every conference stage, it's the second-smallest bucket here - which suggests crypto x AI is still mostly a token story rather than a venture one.
Data source 🔗 Cryptorank
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August 28, 2026 813 8
