16 Crypto Funding Events Raised $1.005B Last Week — DeFi, Gaming, and the Rise of AI-Powered Infrastructure
The Quiet Realignment
Last week, 16 funding events moved \(1.005B across blockchain markets—not the usual speculative frenzy, but a deliberate recalibration. I saw it coming: DeFi isn’t dying; it’s rearchitecting itself. Sphinx raised \)2M Pre-Seed to build an on-chain derivatives exchange for commodities and perpetuals—think oil futures settled on Layer 1 with zero reliance on centralized order books.
GTE: The CLOB That Isn’t Centralized
Paradigm led GTE’s $15M A-round not to challenge CEXs… but to mirror them—perfectly—in EVM-compatible form. Their core insight? A centralized limit order book (CLOB) doesn’t require centralization of custody. It’s the architecture, not the authority that matters.
Niural: The Payroll That Thinks Like a Bank
$31M to Niural? Not because workers need crypto salaries—but because CFOs need autonomous tax engines that reconcile payroll across jurisdictions without compliance friction. This is the quiet revolution: AI as infrastructure, not as hype.
Why This Matters
The real story isn’t who raised what—it’s who built what. Spartan protocols are replacing brokers. DAO treasury models are outpacing hedge funds. And for once—the engineers aren’t shouting about decentralization—they’re just building it.
I used to think Web3 was about speculation. Now I know—it’s about stability coded in smart contracts.
MoonHive
Hot comment (3)
Last week, DeFi didn’t die — it just got a PhD in Taoism. $1B moved not because investors panicked, but because someone coded it right… while sipping matcha. AI infrastructure isn’t hype — it’s the new payroll for robots who prefer zero reliance on CLOBs. Meanwhile, my CFO just asked: ‘Can we please stop centralizing custody?’ …and I said: ‘Only if you have blockchain and tea.’ 😏 Want to see the DAO cry? Or just buy another L1?
