Why did this institution still grow by 150% despite the overall shrinkage of the crypto VC market?

During the overall downturn of the crypto market, almost all crypto VC asset management scales have shrunk along with it, and the industry has entered a brutal liquidation cycle. But against this backdrop, a crypto venture fund established for less than 5 years has become an unequivocal exception—stepping out of an independent growth curve amid a general contraction.

According to a batch of previously undisclosed crypto VC financial disclosure documents obtained last week by Fortune reporters from the U.S. SEC, data shows that the assets under management (AUM) of leading institutions such as Paradigm, Pantera, a16z crypto, Multicoin, and others declined across the board in 2025, with Multicoin shrinking by more than half.

The only one growing against the trend is Haun Ventures, a venture fund established just 4 years ago. Its AUM grew from the initial $1 billion year by year to $2.5 billion in 2025.

In a bleak crypto market, this is by no means luck. Last year, market reports said Haun Ventures was close to completing a new round of fundraising for a $1 billion fund. These fundraisings were all a reflection that Haun Ventures and its founder Katie Haun’s unique investment strategy had already been tested and proven by the market and by LPs, and was moving into the ranks of top-tier VCs.

A distinct founder style and background

Haun Ventures is different, and the groundwork was laid from the very beginning.

Founder Katie Haun is not a typical crypto investor. She previously served as a U.S. federal prosecutor for a long time, working on financial crime investigations for more than a decade, and created the U.S. government’s first cryptocurrency special task force. In 2018, she became a16z’s first female partner, and co-led the fund’s cryptocurrency fund. She also joined Coinbase’s board, giving her a blend of policy perspective, institutional resources, and hands-on experience.

This experience shapes her understanding of the crypto industry—not simply starting from “technical potential” or “market size,” but from compliance boundaries, systemic risk, and the ability to embed within institutions. The impact brought by this background is not obvious, yet it is profound enough.

One point worth noting is that Haun Ventures is one of only two crypto-industry funds named after the founders’ names, reflecting this fund’s distinctive founder-led style. The other VC named after a founder is a16z.

In the early days of founding, Haun Ventures was also not perfect, and it likewise fell into some traps created by market hype. Looking back at its investment record, Haun Ventures once treated NFTs as a key investment focus area, investing in at least 4 NFT projects—Opensea, Autograph, ZORA, and Highlight—already in the first half of 2022.

But as the bubble in concepts like NFTs rapidly burst, Haun Ventures demonstrated strong abilities to correct course and iterate. Starting from the second half of 2022, it quickly narrowed its front line, significantly reduced the frequency of deals, and responded to market downturns with extreme prudence.

According to RootData data, during the 18 months in the second half of 2022 and throughout 2023, there were only 6 funding rounds that Haun Ventures publicly disclosed participating in, averaging that it made an investment once every three months.

As of June 2023, Haun Ventures partner Rosenblum said in an interview that the company’s investments were nearly evenly split between digital tokens and traditional equity. About 30% of the funds had been put into around twenty-plus projects, including publicly traded assets and highly liquid tokens. These tokens include well-known cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as small-cap tokens related to projects.

At that time, Bitcoin’s price had long been hovering in the range of $15,000–$30,000; later, it peaked at $126,000 in 2025. This also brought Haun Ventures very substantial investment returns, largely offsetting investment losses in areas such as NFTs, and became an important foundation for scale growth.

Key shift

Starting in 2024, Haun Ventures’ investment strategy began to show clear changes, with its investment focus shifting toward B2B solution companies such as payment and developer platforms.

At that time, these directions were not “sexy.” They lacked stories of explosive growth, and it was difficult to generate market sentiment in a short period. Yet they happened to hit the critical point of the industry’s transition from speculation to practical utility.

That year, Haun Ventures invested in nearly ten B2B companies, including the stablecoin payments platform Bridge, the crypto-native infrastructure platform Conduit, Chaos Labs—a solution for security in the crypto protocol economy, Solana’s developer platform Helius, and the crypto payments platform BVNK, among others.

As for investment style, Haun Ventures especially favors leading investments. According to RootData data, among 39 disclosed funding rounds in which it invested publicly, it led 22 rounds, with a lead-investment rate of over 56%. This ranked it first among top-tier VCs. This reflects Haun Ventures’ unusually strong conviction in its investment portfolio—it is willing to support high-potential early-stage projects with large amounts of capital.

Looking at it today, payments have become the crypto track with the highest valuation premium and the clearest exit path. Haun Ventures’ early layout, combined with its usual lead-investment style, has enabled it to obtain very attractive investment exit returns.

Since October 2024, more than 5 of Haun Ventures’ portfolio companies have been acquired, and multiple payment companies have achieved high-multiple returns. For example, Haun Ventures led the investment in the stablecoin development platform Bridge at a valuation of $200 million. The acquiror’s final valuation exceeded $1.1 billion. Haun Ventures also led the investment in the crypto payments platform BVNK at a valuation of $750 million. The acquiror’s final valuation exceeded $1.8 billion.

In an environment where exit channels for crypto assets are becoming increasingly narrow, and secondary-market liquidity is highly concentrated among the top players, Haun Ventures has demonstrated the viability of another path: investing in companies that can solve real payment pain points and are compatible with traditional finance through equity, achieving high-multiple exits through M&A, which is more capital-efficient than holding a pile of tokens with very poor liquidity.

From chasing trending NFTs to balancing token and equity allocations, and then to focusing on B2B payments and infrastructure—Haun Ventures’ evolution path is a microcosm of how crypto VCs are shifting from speculation toward value orientation. Katie Haun’s compliance background, the fund’s fast ability to correct course, its cautious deal cadence, its heavy allocation strategy with a high lead-investment ratio, and a precise grasp of real applications and exit paths together have built a moat to weather cycles.

When industry bubbles burst and institutions that rely on stories and leverage-driven expansion shrink one after another, Haun Ventures—grounded in compliance and steadiness—has become the most certain winner in the crypto winter, and it also points the way for the next phase of survival and growth for the entire VC industry.