investment

a16z partner and a16z crypto leader Chris Dixon published an article on social media titled "The Long Game of Cryptocurrency," stating: There is a popular saying that the non-financial use cases of cryptocurrency are dead. Some also claim that the "read-write-own" model has failed. These conclusions misunderstand the core concepts and misjudge the stage of development we are in.We are currently in the financial era of blockchain. But the core idea has never been that all crypto applications will emerge simultaneously, nor that finance will not lead the way. The core thought has always been that blockchain introduces a new primitive—capable of coordinating human and capital at internet scale, embedding ownership directly into the system. Finance is the domain where this primitive can most naturally prove its value, which is why we often cite finance as the primary example of productive use cases for tokens.Finance is not separate from a larger vision; it is part of it. It serves as the foundation and testing ground for all other applications. At a16z and a16z crypto, we are looking long-term: our fund structure is designed for a cycle of over 10 years because building new industries takes time—operational sequence is crucial. Infrastructure and distribution networks often emerge before new categories of applications.The internet did not begin with social media, streaming, or online communities; it began with packet switching, TCP/IP, and basic connectivity. Only after hundreds of millions of people went online did entirely new cultural and economic categories emerge. Cryptocurrency is likely to be similar. A reasonable speculation is that we need to onboard hundreds of millions of people through financial applications like payments, stablecoins, savings, and DeFi before we can see meaningful adoption in media, gaming, AI, or other potentially more distant fields.Many applications rely on ready wallets, identities, liquidity, and trust mechanisms. This is why a16z has spent over five years working to establish a clear regulatory framework for tokens. Great endeavors take time. The breakthroughs we see today in the AI field are the result of decades of hard work by outstanding talents. Building a new technological system is a marathon, and this is what a marathon looks like in practice: a long period of groundwork followed by a sharp turning point. It is those chaotic years that make the clarity of the future possible.

According to Gate market data, during the U.S. trading session on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average historically broke through the 50,000-point mark, marking the latest milestone achieved by the U.S. economy after years of strong growth. Chris Hyzy, Chief Investment Officer at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Private Bank, stated that opportunities in the U.S. market are not over yet. Although the Dow is steadily moving towards the 100,000-point threshold, price pressures and weak job growth remain warning signals.

According to The Block, research firm Bernstein analyzed that the stock price of IREN, a Bitcoin mining company transitioning to AI computing services, fell sharply after releasing its financial report. The main reason was market disappointment over the lack of new large AI partnership announcements, rather than a deterioration in fundamentals.The company's stock price dropped about 18% after the earnings report, to approximately $39.79. Bernstein analysts believe that the volatility of Bitcoin-related earnings is no longer the core investment logic for IREN, and investors are more focused on its progress in transitioning to AI cloud infrastructure. Although IREN's Bitcoin mining revenue decreased quarter-over-quarter this quarter, its AI cloud revenue more than doubled compared to the previous quarter. The company has secured approximately $2.3 billion in annual recurring revenue contracts for AI cloud services and expects this to grow to $3.4 billion by the fourth quarter of 2026, equivalent to deploying about 140,000 GPUs.Bernstein maintains an "outperform" rating on IREN with a target price of $125, viewing this decline as a reset of expectations rather than a signal of deteriorating execution capability.

1confirmation announced that it has begun investing from its fourth fund (Fund IV) and will intensify support for the best early-stage crypto entrepreneurs.The firm stated in a declaration that they established the first crypto venture capital fund 10 years ago, firmly believing that cryptocurrency would empower people and bring more freedom to the world, "and this is happening. Looking forward to the next 10 years."

Tether Investments announced today a $100 million investment in the digital asset platform Anchorage Digital. Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. is the first federally regulated digital asset bank in the United States, providing staking, custody, governance, settlement, and stablecoin issuance services for global institutions and innovators.

Singapore cryptocurrency company Penguin Securities announced the completion of approximately 2.8 billion yen (about 18 million USD) in financing, with investors including mint, Tokyo University of Science Investment Management Company, and several other Japanese investment institutions.The company was co-founded in 2023 by Japanese entrepreneurs Yuya Kuratomi, Kentaro Kawabe, and Shogo Setoguchi, and has obtained a Capital Markets Services License from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2025.

According to market news, CoinDCX CEO Sumit Gupta revealed that Indian crypto investors are buying Bitcoin and other L1 project tokens (such as Ethereum, Solana, and XRP) on dips and maintaining a diversified portfolio.Unlike the speculative behavior in 2021 that chased high returns, current investors are more focused on fundamentals and long-term value, making more rational investments through systematic investment plans and limit orders. The Indian government takes a cautious regulatory approach to crypto assets, viewing them as taxable virtual digital assets (VDA). The 2026 budget continues to maintain a 30% tax on crypto gains and a 1% transaction source tax, while strengthening compliance requirements for transaction disclosures.

The crypto venture capital firm Multicoin Capital announced that co-founder and managing partner Kyle Samani will gradually step back from the company's daily operations.Co-founder Tushar Jain stated that Samani's interests have expanded from the crypto space to cutting-edge areas such as artificial intelligence, longevity technology, and robotics, prompting him to dedicate more time to exploring these emerging technologies. Kyle Samani gained significant attention for his early bet on Solana and has been an important voice in the industry for years, actively promoting multiple tracks including DePIN, and co-founding the digital asset vault company Forward, which focuses on SOL as its core asset. He has also proposed core concepts related to Solana's performance, such as IBRL (Increase Bandwidth, Reduce Latency).Samani stated that leaving Multicoin is a "bittersweet" decision, but he will continue to invest in the crypto industry as an individual and remain a voice for the Solana ecosystem.

The Canadian investment regulatory agency CIRO recently released a new digital asset custody framework aimed at strengthening the regulation of cryptocurrency asset custody methods and enhancing investor protection.This framework draws on lessons learned from past events such as the collapse of QuadrigaCX, focusing on preventing hacking attacks, fraud, weak corporate governance, and bankruptcy risks. According to the guidelines, the new framework establishes a tiered, risk-based custody structure that imposes differentiated regulatory requirements on different custody models while allowing institutions to engage in compliant innovation.CIRO stated that as custody forms and cybersecurity risks continue to evolve, regulators will continuously update this framework to adapt to new industry developments.

According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, Nvidia is about to reach an agreement to invest $20 billion in OpenAI, and Nvidia's investment plan is nearing completion. Due to the information not being public, these individuals requested anonymity. The deal has not been finalized, and the terms may still change. Both OpenAI and Nvidia declined to comment.Previously, Bloomberg reported that OpenAI plans to raise up to $100 billion in a new round of financing, with most of the funds coming from large tech companies. Amazon has discussed investing up to $50 billion, and SoftBank has also discussed investing up to $30 billion.

Tianruixiang Holdings Limited today announced a strategic cooperation agreement with a globally renowned digital asset investor. According to the agreement, the investor will inject 15,000 BTC into Tianruixiang in exchange for company equity. Both parties will establish a global joint innovation laboratory, focusing on the development of AI-driven cryptocurrency trading and risk management systems, blockchain infrastructure, and DApp ecosystems. Tianruixiang's main business is providing insurance brokerage services.After the meeting, Tianruixiang's CEO Baohai Xu stated that this financing will enhance the resilience of the balance sheet and accelerate the R&D cycle of AI and cryptocurrency integration products.

According to the latest crypto weekly report released by Gate Ventures, the overall crypto market faced pressure and retraced in the past week, with BTC down 8.7% and ETH's decline widening to 19.4%. ETF fund flows significantly weakened, with BTC and ETH ETFs recording net outflows of approximately $1.49 billion and $327 million, respectively, while the total market capitalization of crypto assets declined by 11.3% over the week. The ETH/BTC exchange rate fell below the critical level of 0.03, further deteriorating market sentiment and entering the "extreme fear" zone, with increased volatility revealing gradual leverage and position pressure.In terms of on-chain and industry activities, despite market pressure, venture capital and innovation dynamics continue to drive progress. Several developments are focused on payment infrastructure, compliant on-chain services, and adaptive DeFi architectures. In terms of investment and financing, a total of 11 financing transactions were completed last week, with a disclosed total financing amount of approximately $188.5 million, an increase of about 52% compared to the previous week, with funds mainly concentrated in DeFi and infrastructure-related areas. These dynamics indicate that, in a context of cautious sentiment, capital allocation remains structurally selective and continues to support developments related to long-term on-chain utility.