# VC Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "VC", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Investors Are Now Hunting for AI Projects on Bilibili and Xiaohongshu

Investors Turn to Bilibili and Xiaohongshu to Source AI Projects The AI hardware boom is in full swing in 2025, with a surge in smart wearables like AI glasses, rings, toys, and companion robots. This frenzy has investors scrambling, not just sifting through business plans, but actively hunting for promising "under-the-radar" projects on youth and tech-enthusiast content platforms like Bilibili and Xiaohongshu. The logic is straightforward: for consumer-facing AI hardware, genuine user demand and potential pitfalls are often revealed earlier in public discussions, comments, and critiques on these communities than in formal pitches. As one industry insider notes, these products must ultimately be tested and understood by real people. This shift highlights a crucial challenge in the sector: user education. The success of AI hardware depends on moving beyond mere efficiency gains to fulfilling higher-order needs like "unleashing personal creativity." Products must convince users they are natural, unobtrusive additions to daily life. Early hype, as seen with devices like the Rabbit R1, often fades if the product fails to clearly solve real-world problems, leading to high return rates and market rejection. The market is now entering a shakeout phase. 2026 is seen as a year of commercial validation. Some projects have already stalled or been canceled due to market resistance, lack of differentiation, or financial woes. However, the long-term opportunity remains vast, with forecasts predicting a multi-trillion dollar global AI hardware market by 2030. The competition is intensifying. With giants like OpenAI and Meta preparing their own hardware, and Chinese companies launching diverse AI-powered products, the battle for user attention, product excellence, and market understanding is just beginning. The core principle endures: in the AI era, it remains a user-sovereign market.

marsbit06/12 05:07

Investors Are Now Hunting for AI Projects on Bilibili and Xiaohongshu

marsbit06/12 05:07

Crypto Primary Market Investment and Financing Forward-Looking Weekly Report | Stablecoin Regulation Nears Implementation, ETF Funds Continue to Withdraw, Capital Begins Betting on Payment and Cash Flow

Crypto Market Weekly Report (Jun 1-7, 2026): Capital Shifts Focus to Payments & Cash Flow Market data indicates a significant divergence: while traditional institutional funds continue exiting via BTC and ETH ETFs (recording net outflows of $1.72B and $168M this week, respectively), stablecoin supply continues growing. This suggests capital is shifting from speculative asset allocation toward defensive positioning within on-chain liquidity, awaiting new, concrete opportunities. This trend is reflected in venture capital focus. Weekly fundraising fell 27% to $302M, with investments concentrating on infrastructure with tangible revenue potential: 1. **Stablecoin Infrastructure (28% of funding):** Projects like M0 Protocol ($35M raise) are gaining attention as regulatory clarity (e.g., the GENIUS Act) nears, shifting the focus from legitimacy to building payment and settlement networks. 2. **AI Agent Infrastructure (26%):** Investments are moving from conceptual AI Agents towards the execution and economic layers required for a functional "Agent economy." Key raises include OpenRouter ($40M) and Halliday ($20M). 3. **Real World Assets (RWA) (18%):** The search for on-chain yield and cash flow drives continued interest in RWA platforms like Ondo Finance. Security threats are evolving from smart contract exploits toward key management failures, permission control issues, and regulatory execution risks (e.g., court-ordered asset freezes). **Key Takeaways:** The investment thesis is shifting from narrative-driven bets to revenue and cash-flow-generating protocols. Future attention should be on the progression of stablecoin regulations, the commercial validation of AI Agent economies, and the performance of high-revenue protocols like derivatives platforms.

marsbit06/11 09:07

Crypto Primary Market Investment and Financing Forward-Looking Weekly Report | Stablecoin Regulation Nears Implementation, ETF Funds Continue to Withdraw, Capital Begins Betting on Payment and Cash Flow

marsbit06/11 09:07

Fundraising is Like a Strange Dance: The 'Absurd Drama' of Silicon Valley Founders' Capital Raises

The article details a series of absurd and revealing anecdotes shared by Silicon Valley founders about their venture capital fundraising experiences, sparked by Greg Isenberg's story of pitching to a sleeping a16z partner. Founders describe surreal pitch meetings: one faced a barefoot, peanut-eating investor who offered triple the requested amount after 30 seconds; another performed a pitch in a VC's parked car; a founder discovered his audience understood no English beyond "yes." These stories highlight the often irrational and performative nature of fundraising. Beyond the absurdity, darker power imbalances are exposed. Stories include investors suggesting founders fire co-founders for their equity, blatant market misjudgments, disrespectful behavior from LPs, and discriminatory remarks. A debate also emerges around "Sequoia's" practice of splitting a round into two valuations. However, the thread isn't solely critical. Positive counter-narratives celebrate supportive VCs who offered crucial advice during crises, respected founders' timelines, and showed simple gestures of respect—like a partner personally fetching coffee before a major pitch. Ultimately, the collective sharing acts as a pressure release, illustrating that fundraising is a complex dance of power, trust, and sometimes sheer theater. It underscores that beyond capital, mutual respect and integrity remain the most enduring foundations of the founder-investor relationship.

marsbit06/09 09:47

Fundraising is Like a Strange Dance: The 'Absurd Drama' of Silicon Valley Founders' Capital Raises

marsbit06/09 09:47

a16z's Globalization Shift: Venture Capital Is Becoming the 'Driving Force' for the U.S. Tech Alliance

a16z is making a significant shift in its globalization strategy, positioning itself not just as a global investor but as a key player in aligning technology with the national security and competitive interests of the United States and its allies. The firm’s recent initiatives, including opening a Tokyo office and appointing Anne Neuberger—a former U.S. government official with deep experience in defense and technology—as Global Affairs Lead, underscore this move. It highlights how venture capital’s role is expanding beyond funding and advice to helping startups navigate complex international regulations, geopolitics, and strategic partnerships in critical sectors like AI, cybersecurity, defense tech, and supply chain resilience. By rebranding its investor relations team as the Global Partnership Team and leveraging its extensive network to connect founders with global capital and key stakeholders, a16z aims to be a "behind-the-scenes force" for scaling companies internationally. The firm has already made over 100 international investments. Ultimately, a16z frames its mission as twofold: empowering founders to build great companies and, now, actively supporting the technological leadership and alliance networks of the U.S. and its allies in an era of heightened global competition.

marsbit06/07 06:14

a16z's Globalization Shift: Venture Capital Is Becoming the 'Driving Force' for the U.S. Tech Alliance

marsbit06/07 06:14

Where the AI Bubble Really Is: Which Layer of Players Are Naked

AI Bubble: Where It Really Is and Who's Swimming Naked This analysis dissects the AI industry not as a single entity but as a five-layer pyramid, arguing that bubbles are concentrated in specific tiers, not uniformly distributed. **Key Distinction from the 2000 Dot-com Bubble:** Unlike 2000, where companies had stock prices before revenue, today's leading AI players have massive, contract-backed revenue driving their valuations. Core infrastructure demand is real, with every GPU running at full capacity for paying customers. **The Five-Layer Pyramid & Bubble Assessment:** * **L0 (Fab/Manufacturing) & Top L4 (Leading AI Apps): NO BUBBLE.** Companies like TSMC, NVIDIA, major cloud providers (Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon), and top AI labs have real revenues and orders. Supply is tightly constrained by TSMC's disciplined capacity control and physical limits like power/land for data centers, preventing a supply glut. * **L1 (Memory): BATTLEGROUND.** Sky-high HBM margins could signal a new structural cycle or a classic "boom before bust." The oligopoly of three major players may enforce supply discipline, making this a high-stakes bet. * **L2 (Interconnect/Optical Modules): BUBBLE TERRITORY.** Companies like Lumentum and AAOI have seen stock surges (4-10x) far outpacing revenue growth. This hardware segment has lower physical barriers to expansion than fabs, allowing speculation. It mirrors the 2000 bubble's epicenter—optics. * **L3 (Infrastructure/"GPU Landlords"): VULNERABLE.** GPU leasing companies profit from the current compute shortage but own no long-term moat. Their business model relies on a temporary bottleneck that will ease as big tech expands and new tech (e.g., potential space-based data centers) emerges. * **L4 Long Tail (VC-backed Startups): STRONG BUBBLE SIGNALS.** VC funding concentration in AI is twice that of the 1999 peak. Many startups with little revenue use the valuation logic of successful giants to justify their own, creating high risk of a "valuation crunch" when funding dries up. **Critical Risks to Monitor:** 1. **GPU Depreciation & Accounting:** Companies extending the assumed useful life of GPUs artificially boost profits. The true economic life depends on future generational leaps from NVIDIA. 2. **"GPU Credit" & Off-Balance-Sheet Leverage:** Emerging structures where shell companies borrow to buy GPUs and lease them out (with chipmakers sometimes investing) move debt off major balance sheets. This echoes the "vendor financing" of 2000 and the securitization risks of 2008, though currently small-scale. 3. **TSMC Abandoning Caution:** If the primary supply bottleneck (TSMC's conservative capacity planning) breaks, runaway supply could trigger a bust. 4. **Algorithmic Efficiency Breakthrough:** A major leap in software efficiency could drastically reduce the need for raw compute hardware, undermining the investment thesis. **Conclusion:** The AI boom is expensive and has frothy areas, but its core is underpinned by real demand and physical supply constraints. The bubble risk is layered: most present in optical components, GPU leasing, and the long-tail startup ecosystem, while the foundational chip manufacturing and leading application layers remain relatively solid—for now.

marsbit06/04 10:20

Where the AI Bubble Really Is: Which Layer of Players Are Naked

marsbit06/04 10:20

How Far Is a16z from Going Public? $60 Billion, 7 Funds, Building Its Own Media Empire — Silicon Valley VC Is Becoming the Next Blackstone

Title: How Far Is a16z from an IPO? $60 Billion AUM, 7 Funds, Owned Media – Silicon Valley VC Is Becoming the Next Blackstone Summary: Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is positioning itself for a public listing, following the path of asset managers like Blackstone. Managing roughly $600 billion and recently raising $15 billion across seven specialized funds, a16z has built a multi-strategy platform beyond traditional VC. Key preparatory moves include obtaining Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) status in 2019, which allows holding public securities, and constructing its own media infrastructure (Future, a16z.news, Turpentine network) to control its public narrative—a crucial need for a publicly traded entity. The firm has signaled its ambition to become a "lasting company" beyond a partnership structure. Analysts suggest a potential IPO timeline of 2028-2030, after the current AI investment cycle matures. If a16z goes public, it could force a structural shift across the VC industry, pushing other major firms to follow suit and build similar permanent capital and media capabilities.

marsbit06/02 04:38

How Far Is a16z from Going Public? $60 Billion, 7 Funds, Building Its Own Media Empire — Silicon Valley VC Is Becoming the Next Blackstone

marsbit06/02 04:38

I've Been a VC in Web3 for Nine Years: Asian Funds Are Experiencing "Hell Mode"

After nine years as a Web3 VC, the author observes a severe downturn in Asia's crypto venture capital scene, with many funds disappearing or pivoting away. The market has cooled dramatically since the 2021-2024 frenzy, leading to fewer deals and active investors. IOSG Ventures, a firm that has endured three market cycles, has adapted its strategy: shifting from 80-90% early-stage investments to a 50% early-stage, 30% post-TGE, and 20% OTC portfolio to find better value and liquidity. The current bear market is described as "hell mode" for Asian funds due to scarce LP capital, forcing extreme precision in targeting only top projects. The author argues the core industry problem has been the disconnect between tokens and real value, where tokens served as fundraising tools without granting holders rights to protocol revenue. A positive shift is emerging where projects like Uniswap and Morpho are programmatically binding token value to protocol profits. Investment focus has moved towards fundamentals: real-yield financial infrastructure (stablecoins, lending) and crypto-native AI infrastructure, while avoiding narrative-driven projects. The conclusion is that true, durable companies are born in pessimistic times when focus shifts to real user needs and sustainable business models. The industry's future will be shaped by those who remain after the泡沫 dissipates.

marsbit06/01 03:41

I've Been a VC in Web3 for Nine Years: Asian Funds Are Experiencing "Hell Mode"

marsbit06/01 03:41

Judgment from a Crypto VC: The Final Stop is Here, All Passengers Please Disembark

A crypto VC firm declares the end of the line: the era driven by retail speculation and crypto-native ideology is over. The future belongs to the large-scale, institutional adoption of blockchain technology, stripped of its decentralized ethos. While retail became distracted by memecoins, major institutions—banks, payment giants—entered en masse, recognizing blockchain's unparalleled efficiency for value transfer. Their goal isn't to embrace decentralization but to build proprietary, controlled networks, adopting the technology while discarding its foundational philosophy. This marks the transition from a "crypto industry" to a "digital asset economy"—a foundational layer powering mainstream finance, not a separate rebellion. Trillions in assets are poised for tokenization, but largely through traditional, regulated channels. For builders and investors, the old playbook of launching low-float, high-FDV tokens for retail speculation is dead. The new imperative is to build robust infrastructure that serves institutional needs: compliance, security, and seamless integration into existing financial systems. The real opportunity lies not in fighting this shift but in enabling it, as institutions become the primary conduit for onboarding the next billion users and tokenizing the next hundred trillion dollars in assets. The game has fundamentally changed.

marsbit05/28 02:36

Judgment from a Crypto VC: The Final Stop is Here, All Passengers Please Disembark

marsbit05/28 02:36

Three Months of Raising $6 Billion in Funding: What Are the Leading Crypto VCs Betting On?

While the crypto bear market persists, top-tier venture capital firms are making significant moves by raising massive new funds, signaling a strategic bet on the industry's future. Haun Ventures and a16z recently announced funds totaling $1 billion and $2.2 billion, respectively. This follows other major raises from firms like Dragonfly, Paradigm, ParaFi, and Blockchain Capital. In under three months, these six VCs have amassed over $6 billion in fresh capital, a clear example of counter-cyclical investing during a quiet market phase. The fundraising landscape highlights a sharp divergence between large and small VCs. Many mid-sized and smaller funds are struggling with poor returns, limited exit options, and difficulty raising new capital, leading some to scale back or exit. In contrast, leading firms are strengthening their dominance due to structural advantages: superior access to high-quality deals, the ability to invest across all stages, greater capacity for long-term bets and risk, and stronger negotiation power. These new funds are largely converging on key investment themes. The strongest consensus centers on next-generation on-chain financial infrastructure, including stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, prediction markets, and on-chain payments. VCs are focusing on projects with validated demand that can attract traditional finance flows. Another major focus is artificial intelligence (AI), particularly AI agents, as crypto seeks to position its open, composable networks as foundational infrastructure for the emerging AI economy. Ultimately, this wave of bear-market fundraising is a strategic wager on the next cycle. By deploying capital when valuations are lower and market noise is reduced, these top VCs aim to identify and back the foundational projects that will define the industry's future, betting on which companies will become the next generation of leaders.

marsbit05/08 05:49

Three Months of Raising $6 Billion in Funding: What Are the Leading Crypto VCs Betting On?

marsbit05/08 05:49

Amidst the Volatility in the Crypto Market, Who is Buying Against the Trend?

"In a volatile crypto market downturn of Q1 2026, institutional players demonstrated divergent strategies. While Bitcoin fell over 25% and Ethereum dropped 35%, key institutions accumulated: corporate treasuries like Strategy (MicroStrategy) added over $10 billion in BTC, sovereign wealth funds like Mubadala increased IBIT holdings by 46%, and major banks launched crypto services and ETFs. Notably, 26 new crypto ETFs were filed or launched under streamlined SEC rules, including bank-led products from Morgan Stanley and BlackRock’s staking ETH ETF. VC funding saw concentration: total investment reached ~$5 billion, but deal count plummeted 49%. Three mega-deals—BVNK ($1.8B), Kalshi ($1B), and Polymarket ($600M)—accounted for half the quarter’s funding. Investment shifted from DeFi/NFTs to payments, prediction markets, and regulated CeFi infrastructure. Selling pressure came from hedge funds (e.g., Brevan Howard cut IBIT by 85%) and Bitcoin miners liquidating holdings. The U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve saw zero additions, highlighting that real buying came from corporations and sovereign funds, not governments. The institutional crypto landscape is bifurcating: long-term holders accumulate while short-term traders exit, signaling a foundation for the next cycle."

marsbit04/26 09:38

Amidst the Volatility in the Crypto Market, Who is Buying Against the Trend?