Crypto Funding: $158M week for layer-1 blockchains and a metaverse creator

BitGo raised by far the most capital this week, though it didn’t reveal who put up the money

article-image

Olivier Le Moal/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Nine crypto companies raised a collective $158 million in fresh funding this week, with ZetaChain being a top performer among them. 

The blockchain developer put $27 million on the board with participants in the round including Blockchain.com, Jane Street Capital, Human Capital, Vy Capital, GSR. 

ZetaChain is an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible layer-1 blockchain, and its team wants to get away from bridges and wrapped tokens. Instead, it wants to move towards a simpler, more interoperable future for crypto, according to a press release.  

ZetaChain allows users to have access to their wallet’s assets and data on a single platform irrespective of the blockchain. Even Bitcoin and Dogecoin are interoperable, despite being non-smart contract chains. 

Read more: ZetaChain announces $27M raise in latest funding round

Another layer-1 blockchain, Linera, raised $6 million in its latest seed round, bringing the total raised to $12 million. Borderless Capital led the round with a16z, Laser Digital Ventures, Matrixport, Flow Traders, and GSR Markets participating. 

Linera was created in 2021 by former Meta engineer Mathieu Baudet. Baudet is trying to increase scalability through “microchains.”

“The Linera system scales by adding chains, not by increasing the size or the production rate of blocks,” according to a press release

The microchain model “grants each individual user their own lightweight chains, which integrate into browser extensions or mobile devices for streamlined Web3 app interactions within their wallets.”

With the new funding, Linera has quite a few plans. The project expects to expand its team, launch a devnet and a testnet, and make their mark in the APAC region. 

BitGo pulls nine figures

BitGo made a $100 million splash this week. The crypto custody firm is now valued at $1.75 billion after its series C round.

That valuation is significantly higher than the $1.2 billion Galaxy Digital almost shelled out to acquire BitGo before backing out of the deal in August 2022.  

Bloomberg broke the news first on Wednesday morning. While BitGo CEO Mike Belshe chose not to disclose the identities of the investors in this recent round, he did mention that the supporters were from both the US and Asia, with some having no ties to the crypto sector at all.

Bloomberg reported that BitGo’s previous investors included Goldman Sachs, DRW Holdings and Galaxy Digital Ventures.

Other notable fundraises

  • Metaverse creator ZTX closed a $13 million seed round led by Jump Crypto with participants Collab+Currency, Parataxis and others
  • Dinari secured $7.5 million to build a decentralized trading platform for tokenized securities. The product will not be available in the US.
  • Electric Capital led a $3.3M seed round for Ellipsis Labs with contributions from Robot Ventures, Anagram and notable angel investors including Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, Polygon’s chief Marc Boiron and Keone Hon, CEO of Monad Labs.
  • Shuttle Labs raised $2.3 million to build a blockchain explorer called Lore. Shuttle seeks to dethrone Etherscan as the most popular cataloguer of blockchain transactions.
  • JKLabs locked down $2 million in pre-seed funding to change how governance works in crypto.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

The march toward an interoperable and onchain-by-default internet depends on reliable messaging and value transfer across heterogeneous domains. Crosschain protocols now process >$1.3T in combined annual transfer volume and secure tens of millions of user interactions, yet no single design dominates.

article-image

The goal, per Santiago Santos, is to make crypto a relatable piece of tech for people who may not even understand it

article-image

Stripe stablecoin unit aims to operate under a federal charter enabling regulated stablecoin issuance and custody services

by Blockworks /
article-image

Will TradFi make crypto better or create more problems than it solves?

article-image

Subtle decisions by risk curators saved Aave from significant turmoil

article-image

The new Rootstock Institutional unit aims to connect professional investors to Bitcoin-native yield and liquidity strategies anchored in BTC’s security layer

by Blockworks /
article-image

DOJ files record civil forfeiture against more than 127,000 BTC linked to scam activity

by Blockworks /