Archetype’s Third Fund Targets Early-Stage Crypto Infrastructure
Crypto venture capital firm Archetype has successfully closed its third fund, Archetype III, with over $100 million in capital commitments. The fund attracted backing from a range of institutional investors including pension funds, academic endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. This marks the firm’s continued focus on early-stage cryptocurrency startups.
Archetype’s portfolio includes notable companies like Monad, Privy, Farcaster, Relay, and Ritual. The firm specifically targets projects building onchain infrastructure, decentralized finance applications, and emerging blockchain technologies. According to the announcement, the capital will be deployed across several key areas including stablecoins, payment solutions, onchain social networks, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks.
Investment Strategy and Market Context
Ash Egan, founder and general partner at Archetype, commented that “blockchains are becoming the commerce rails of the world, and crypto’s ChatGPT moment is set to emerge atop uniquely performant onchain infrastructure.” This perspective reflects the firm’s belief in the maturation of blockchain infrastructure and its potential for mainstream adoption.
The timing of this fund closure comes during a period of selective venture capital activity in the crypto space. Recent data shows that while deal counts have decreased, the quality and focus of investments have shifted toward more established business models. In May, crypto venture activity reached its lowest deal count in over four years, with only 62 rounds completed, though those raises totaled more than $909 million.
Broader Market Trends in Crypto Venture Capital
This selectivity appears to be part of a broader market trend where investors are moving away from speculative pre-seed bets and memecoin projects toward ventures with proven revenue models. Interestingly, Bitcoin-focused projects have seen increased interest, with the emerging Bitcoin DeFi sector raising $175 million across 32 deals in the first half of 2025.
Venture funds have also been channeling capital into tokenization and stablecoin infrastructure. Notable deals include $28 million for Stable, a Tether-focused blockchain expanding USDt payments, and $22 million for Spiko, a French fintech offering tokenized money market funds. Additionally, Inveniam Capital invested $20 million into layer-1 blockchain Mantra to support bringing institutional real-world assets onto the network.
Market Recovery Signals
Venture capital investment in crypto reached $10.03 billion in the second quarter of 2025, representing the highest level since Q1 2022’s $16.64 billion. This suggests a potential recovery in institutional confidence despite the more selective approach to investments. The Archetype fund closure appears to align with this broader trend of renewed institutional interest in crypto infrastructure projects.
The fund’s focus on mobile applications built on crypto rails and crypto AI integration indicates where Archetype sees future growth opportunities. Perhaps this reflects a belief that the next wave of crypto adoption will come through more accessible interfaces and AI-enhanced blockchain applications rather than purely technical infrastructure improvements.
