The week of January 11-17, 2026, saw a significant influx of venture capital into the cryptocurrency sector, with total funding reaching $513.4 million across 15 projects. The funding activity was dominated by infrastructure, exchanges, and payments, highlighting continued investor confidence in core crypto rails.
Alpaca, an API platform for trading stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies, led the major rounds by raising $150 million in a Series D funding round. The investment was led by DRIVE Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures and Opera, valuing the company at a fully diluted valuation of $1.15 billion. Alpaca has now raised a total of $288.8 million. The company stated the funds will be used to strengthen its global investment infrastructure and expand its product offerings, which are used by platforms like Kraken across 40 countries.
Similarly, LMAX Group secured $150 million in an undisclosed round, with the investment notably backed by Ripple.
Other notable fundraises included Indonesia-based crypto exchange ICEx, which raised $70 million to expand its regulated spot trading services in Southeast Asia. Project Eleven, a Bitcoin infrastructure and security platform focusing on post-quantum security, raised $20 million in a Series A round at a $120 million valuation. Investors included Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Lattice.
VelaFi, a stablecoin payment infrastructure project, secured $20 million in a Series B round. Additional funding went to projects like Konnex ($15M), XMAQUINA ($10M), and several others, bringing the total for the week to over half a billion dollars.
Separate data for the first two weeks of January 2026 shows an even larger trend, with crypto startups raising $588 million. A key investment theme emerging is privacy technology, as institutions seek confidential on-chain transactions using zero-knowledge proofs and other advanced cryptographic methods. Tim Sun of HashKey Group emphasized that privacy is a prerequisite for traditional institutions to adopt blockchain at scale.
