I recently came across a very interesting analysis about how the landscape of crypto funding has radically changed. Tom Dunleavy, who leads venture investments at Varys Capital, shared something that probably many in the industry are already feeling firsthand.

Basically, the game has completely changed. Less than a year ago, VCs had to be constantly in aggressive networking mode: building relationships, creating content, appearing on podcasts, participating in Spaces... It was an exhausting job of constant selling. But now? Simply having capital available is almost your ticket in. Projects are literally seeking you out.

The irony is that this sounds good in theory, but the reality is more complex. It turns out that most funds today are in one of three situations: without available funds, pivoting toward later rounds (Series A and beyond), or trying to raise but not having much success. That means the pre-seed market has contracted significantly.

What used to be a process of 2-3 weeks now easily stretches to 2-3 months. And honestly, that’s not entirely bad. Projects with questionable business models or that simply copy the current narrative can no longer get funding so easily. It’s a necessary filter.

Now here’s the interesting part: according to Dunleavy, there are currently fewer than 20 funds actively investing in pre-seed and seed rounds. Fewer than 20. That’s quite restrictive when you think about it. This gives these few funds enormous selective power. They have time to do real due diligence, to carefully consider which projects are truly worth it.

His conclusion is that 2025 and 2026 could be a historic window of opportunity, but only if the funds manage to survive this more selective cycle. It’s a raw but realistic analysis of where we are in the crypto market right now.