ether.fi Ventures

Backing pioneers who redefine the digital frontier with bold ideas.

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

We are deploying
- $0.5-1m checks
- founders that are rebuilding finance
- live product w/ traction + growth

We plug you directly into the @ether_fi ecosystem
- $5.3B in TVL
- $600M in vault products
- tens of thousands of active users
- $1B annual volume card program

[Tom Dunleavy @dunleavy89]

The shift in the crypto fundraising landscape the past 6 months has been insane.

Crypto VCs used to have to constantly be networking/writing/podcasting/going on spaces/promoting your thesis/getting on 10 deal flow calls a week, to get into good deals...now it's literally enough to just have capital to write checks.

Deals are being pushed rather than dug out. Inbound if people know you have money is at an all-time high.

Most firms are either 1) Out of money 2) Moved to Series A and beyond or 3) Fundraising (with no success).

Deals that used to close in 2-3 weeks now close in 2-3 months.

Firms with questionable business models or copy pasta of the latest trend are getting zero primary or follow-on funding (Good news!).

There are now realistically <20 firms writing checks in pre-seed/seed.

VCs basically have the pick of any deal they want, with more time to do DD.

IMHO 25/26 are going to be historic vintages for those who stick around.

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

https://t.co/9PzWaUXhQR

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

@degennQuant @HyperliquidX Hyperliquid

[ETHGAS @ETHGasOfficial]

🇹🇭From the stage at @SEABWofficial.

Our founder, @lepsoe, joined @dee_kishore (@Nethermind), @woogieboogie_jl (@0xShardLab), and moderator @HeyNat for a conversation about Ethereum as AI infrastructure.

[Irina Karagyaur @IrinaKaragyaur]

pre-seed/seed:

@PanteraCapital
@Hack_VC
@Delphi_Ventures
@CoinFund
@DWFVentures
@bcap
@HaunVentures
@Rockaway_X
@etherfi_VC
@DraperVC
@greenfield_cap
@Lemniscap
@lattice_fund
@decasonic
@ax1vc
@PortalVentures
@VarrockVC
@HashgraphVC
@v3v_ventures
@KosmosVC
@ZeePrimeCap
@TiogaCapital
@VerdaVentures
@ColliderVC
@DextForce
@equilibrium_co
@nolimithodl
@RedBeardVC
@ZigLabs_
@colosseum

who are Series A players?

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

Wrote about this in our latest research piece a few days ago but great to see the @ethereumfndn take the lead on this. we think UX is a very underserved part of the market but is incredibly important for true adoption.

https://t.co/ZmaTIGTwx5

[Ethereum Foundation @ethereumfndn]

0/ Clear signing is now live.

An open standard to end blind signing, making human-readable transactions default.

This effort brings a major UX and Security upgrade to transaction signing on Ethereum.

[Hyperbeat @hyperbeat]

Introducing Liquid Banking Agent Cards

Issue a card, set limits, assign it to your agent and let it transact on your behalf.

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

https://t.co/yZ8LQ0xoKH

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

HUGE

[RISEx @risextrade]

$100M in weekly volume.

Fully onchain atomic orderbook with millisecond execution.

Real-time trading, live on RISEx. Trade 24/7.

https://t.co/D5cgTSJi0P

[Dave @DaveHsu]

If it isn't already clear, it'll become much clearer in the coming years that $ETH is at a point where we've solved some of the hardest problems around censorship resistance, decentralization, permissionless compute, and lindy.

The next phase is going to be about scaling and bringing activity back to L1. I think people are underestimating how quickly fees can be brought down, whereas many other chains are going to hit the problem of maintaining performance while trying to meet some of the core properties that make blockchains special.

[Dave @DaveHsu]

Storytime: how we partnered with ETHGas.

I first got on a call with Kevin (@lepsoe) in August 2025. He started sketching out a futures market for Ethereum blockspace. Preconfirmations. Commit boost. Validators getting their agency back from the relays and block builders quietly clipping them on every block. The kind of pitch where you nod along and slowly realize the person on the other end is describing infrastructure that doesn't exist yet but obviously should.

We kept talking through the fall. Every call, the vision got bigger. Network effects at 5% validator adoption. Multi-block MEV strategies compounding once you can buy consecutive blocks. Eventually Uniswap updating in milliseconds, MEV designed out entirely, ETHGas running its own base rollup on top of the validator set it's aggregated. Kevin would say it casually, the way founders do when they've already lived in the future for a while.

The strategic fit was obvious. https://t.co/gN6BNEHKzp sits on one of the largest pools of staked ETH in the world. ETHGas needed validator capacity to make the market real. So we invested and delegated $3B of validator capacity into their network. A real partnership, not a passive check.

The fun part is everything that becomes possible on top of this. Hedging gas exposure. Locking in inclusion. Pricing blockspace forward. Whole new categories of products that couldn't exist before a futures market for blockspace existed.

The future of Ethereum is bright, and we're lucky to be building it alongside Kevin and the @ETHGasOfficial team.

[ETHGAS @ETHGasOfficial]

Ethereum’s blockspace market is still structurally underbuilt.

As the network scales, forward visibility on execution, pricing, and validator revenue becomes increasingly important.

This piece from @etherfi_VC lays out the case for forward blockspace markets and the exchange layer for future block rights that ETHGas is building.

The $3Bn strategic partnership between @ether_fi and ETHGas reflects that long-term view.

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

https://t.co/TiftgxlkLe

[Rachit Agarwal @rachit]

great start to “The Crypto Fundraising Landscape” podcast series on the @touchgrass_pod

posted w @jonathankingvc (Coinbase Ventures), @richardchen39 (Founder, Varrock) and @DaveHsu (GP, EtherFi Ventures) this week

the main idea for this series is for founders who are currently raising to use these episode transcripts to give their LLM addition context on who they’re trying to pitch to - each episode is recorded w this in mind

(happy to give transcripts in DMs as well if that’s easier)

many more episodes to come in this series!

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

@dcfgod @ether_fi Game recognize game

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

This is exactly the vertical we’re backing.

We’re a fund built inside one of the largest DeFi platforms in crypto, @ether_fi.

We invest in founders building the rails for crypto’s mass adoption: payments, neobanks, FX, cards.

We write $500K–$1M checks, but honestly, capital is the smallest part of what we offer.

What our founders can actually get access to:
- 70K+ active cardholders, $1B+ annual volume
- 300K+ users we can put your product in front of
- $5B+ in one of the largest LRTs on Ethereum
- $500M in liquid vaults for RWAs & liquidity

Our team has built and scaled real consumer businesses, so we help with distribution and GTM, not just intros. We move fast, give honest feedback, and don’t disappear after the wire.

If you’re building here, come say hi. DMs open.

[The Kobeissi Letter @KobeissiLetter]

Crypto card spending is the next big trend:

Crypto card spending volume has surged +500% since September 2024, now running at $600 million per month.

As a result, stablecoin-linked payment cards are now one of the fastest growing businesses on the blockchain, with 90% of transactions captured by Visa, $V.

Visa's strategy has centered around partnering with emerging infrastructure providers which reduces reliance on traditional sponsor banks.

The growth comes amid the launch of Jupiter Global which returns 4-10% cash back to crypto cards and has seen +660% MoM volume growth in April.

Crypto card adoption is growing.

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

https://t.co/emVfWGqmtx Live Analyst Call - April 30, 2026 https://t.co/uAwfZPaXfJ

[Rachit Agarwal @rachit]

The Crypto Fundraising Landscape

New Episode w @DaveHsu, GP at EtherFi Ventures

We Discuss:
- EtherFi Ventures fund thesis and vision
- Shift in DeFi landscape since 2017
- Current Non Consensus Bets + Missed Opportunities

0:36 - why does @ether_fi have a VC arm?
1:45 - Dave's background
3:10 - @etherfi_VC fund thesis and vision
6:45 - the changing DeFi landscape since 2017
8:49 - biggest wins (shoutout @ETHGasOfficial and @hyperbeat)
10:18 - IC deal analysis contributing factors
13:50 - what are current non-consensus bets?
19:20 - "are there any missed deal opps that keep you up at night?" (@moonshot and @Pumpfun)

[ether.fi @ether_fi]

Join us as we discuss all things https://t.co/gbHcksy7eA, with guest speakers @LorenzoARK and @rhadiARK from ARK Invest.

Register here: https://t.co/iXuLM9Y9aD

[ether.fi Ventures @etherfi_VC]

Tons of DMs coming in. We’ll get to each one don’t worry