Paradigm, one of the largest crypto venture capital firms, has closed its fourth fund at $1.2 billion, marking the first time the firm will invest outside digital assets. The new vehicle targets frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, and other hardware and software startups. While Paradigm stressed it will continue its crypto investments, the move signals how venture money is increasingly chasing AI even as crypto funding activity slows.
The raise, Paradigm’s third venture-specific fund, follows a $2.5 billion fund in 2021 and an $850 million vehicle in 2024. The firm first signaled a broader mandate in February 2026, when reports emerged it was seeking up to $1.5 billion. Managing partner Alana Palmedo told Bloomberg that crypto remains exciting but “there’s so much else happening right now that’s pretty hard to ignore.”
Non-crypto investments from the new fund include autonomous drone delivery company Zipline International, valued at $7.6 billion in January, and space defense startup True Anomaly, valued at $2.2 billion in April. Paradigm participated in Zipline’s Series H round in March 2026 and True Anomaly’s Series D in April. The firm also highlighted its backing of Nous Research, an AI research company, and its joint project with OpenAI, EVMbench, a benchmark for AI agents detecting smart contract bugs.
Co-founder Matt Huang first discussed AI publicly in 2023, calling it “too interesting to ignore” and predicting “plenty of overlap” with crypto. That thesis has been reflected in crypto investments too: Paradigm co-led a $175 million round in decentralized lending protocol Morpho in June 2026, led a seed round for tokenized US Treasuries infrastructure firm M1X Global in July, and holds stakes in prediction market Kalshi and stablecoin project Tempo (co-founded with Stripe).
Founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm manages nearly $12 billion in assets. Its expansion mirrors a wider trend among crypto-native funds like Framework Ventures and Haun Ventures, driven by a maturing crypto market, the rapid rise of AI, and the blurring of lines between blockchain and adjacent industries.
