#CryptoFigureHeads #FollowTheirMoneyMoves #IfYouAreNewToBinance #BinanceHODLerERA
Top Silicon Valley venture capital firms that have heavily invested in crypto, Web3, and blockchain startups — many of which were early backers of projects like Ethereum, Solana, Coinbase, OpenSea, LayerZero, and others:
💸 1. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Crypto)
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Flagship Funds: a16z Crypto Fund I–IV (over $7.6B in total)
Top Crypto Investments:
Coinbase, Uniswap, Solana, Dapper Labs, OpenSea, LayerZero, Optimism, EigenLayer
Unique Position: Built a dedicated crypto research arm + policy division, helping shape crypto regulation.
🚀 2. Sequoia Capital
Location: Menlo Park, CA
Notable Crypto Bets:
FTX (loss), Fireblocks, Polygon, Filecoin, Saddle Finance, LayerZero, zkSync
Strategy: Early-stage and growth-stage across protocol, DeFi, infrastructure, and Web3 gaming.
🔒 3. Paradigm
Founded by: Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam + ex-Sequoia partner Matt Huang
HQ: San Francisco, CA
Fund Size: Over $2.5B
Top Picks:
Uniswap, dYdX, Optimism, Blur, EigenLayer, Coinbase, Compound
Specialty: Hardcore crypto-native focus (DeFi, L2s, staking, MEV, governance)
🏗️ 4. Founders Fund (Peter Thiel)
Location: San Francisco, CA
Crypto Portfolio:
Bitcoin (very early), Block.one (EOS), Bullish, Layer1, Caldera (ERA), BitGo, Tagomi
Focus: Privacy tech, Bitcoin infrastructure, high-risk early-stage innovation
⚙️ 5. Polychain Capital
Founded by: Olaf Carlson-Wee (Coinbase’s first employee)
Based in: San Francisco, CA
Investments:
Tezos, Dfinity (ICP), NEAR, Filecoin, Avalanche, Cosmos, Aztec, StarkWare
Structure: Hybrid hedge fund and VC
🌐 6. Electric Capital
Founders: Ex-Facebook engineer Avichal Garg & Curtis Spencer
Key Investments:
Near, Celo, dYdX, Axelar, Bitwise, Gitcoin, Berachain, Zama
Known for: In-depth crypto dev reports and long-term bets on open-source ecosystems
🧠 7. Multicoin Capital
Technically Austin-based, but active in SV and co-invests often with SV firms
Top Positions:
Solana, Helium, Arweave, The Graph, Render (RNDR)
Reputation: Bold thesis-driven investing, major early Solana backer
📊 8. Pantera Capital
HQ: Menlo Park, CA
Focus: Blockchain infrastructure, DeFi, gaming, and layer-1 chains
Investments:
Ripple, Brave, 1inch, Alchemy, Bitstamp, Polkadot, Aurory
One of the first U.S.-based institutional crypto funds (since 2013)
🧬 Summary Table
VC Firm Known For Notable Investments
a16z Crypto Largest crypto-dedicated VC arm Uniswap, Coinbase, Solana, OpenSea
Sequoia Capital Legacy VC with a crypto turn Polygon, zkSync, LayerZero
Paradigm Hardcore DeFi and L2 focus Uniswap, Optimism, Blur, EigenLayer
Founders Fund Ideological & Bitcoin-heavy Caldera, Layer1, EOS, BitGo
Polychain Capital Cross-chain and privacy-first ICP, Filecoin, Tezos, Cosmos
Electric Capital Developer-centric investing Axelar, Bitwise, Gitcoin
Multicoin Capital Thesis-based, chain-maxi bets Solana, Helium, Render
Pantera Capital First U.S. crypto VC Ripple, Alchemy, Polkadot