Author: Memento Research
Compiled by: Deep Tide TechFlow
Deep Dive: Crypto funding data for the first four months of 2026 reveals a harsh reality: funding for the gaming and DeFi sectors is nearly exhausted, while prediction market firms Kalshi and Polymarket have taken more money than all DeFi projects combined for the entire year. Even more alarming is the fact that the number of M&A deals has caught up with seed rounds, indicating that capital is shifting from betting on new ideas to acquiring existing leaders.
Financing Overview: The March Surge Was Just an Illusion
From January 1 to May 6, 2026, the crypto industry completed 305 funding rounds, totaling $8.65 billion. However, the $4.57 billion "surge" in March was actually just two mega-mergers: BVNK's $1.8 billion and Kalshi's $1 billion.
Excluding these two, the actual pace of funding is about $1 billion per month, even weaker than at the end of 2025.
Funds flow: Payments and consumption account for 72%
Divided by track:
Payments: $3.74 billion (56 transactions)
Spending: $2.48 billion (35 transactions)
DeFi: $1.06 billion (47 transactions, the highest number of transactions)
The payment and consumption sectors combined accounted for 72% of the total funding for the year. Funding for gaming and DePin virtually disappeared.
Prediction markets dominate the consumer sector
The two prediction market companies accounted for 18% of their total funding for the year:
Kalshi: $1 billion
Polymarket: $600 million
These two deals, totaling $1.6 billion, exceed the total of all 47 DeFi funding rounds.
Mergers and acquisitions become mainstream
Mergers and acquisitions reached 48 (23% of known stage transactions), almost matching the 57 seed round deals (27%). This cycle has shifted from investing in early-stage new ideas to acquiring industry leaders.
Investment Institution Rankings Reshuffled
Most active funds in 2026:
Coinbase Ventures: 18 deals (ranked second during the period of 2021-26)
Tether: 13 deals (new lead investor)
Animoca Brands: 11 entries (ranked first during 2021-26)
GSR: 11 entries
a16z: 7 transactions (a significant decrease compared to approximately 200 transactions during the period of 2021-26)
