Crypto VC funding: Tenstorrent raises $1.5b, Whop secures $200m

Crypto and crypto-linked companies announced $1.7626 billion across eight disclosed financings during the Oct. 17–23, 2026 period, according to the weekly deal inventory compiled from DeFiLlama and DropsTab and checked against company announcements, investor disclosures and reporting. The aggregate reflects financing announced during the week, including transactions that closed earlier, and excludes valuations, cumulative funding and previously announced offerings. The total was dominated by Tenstorrent, whose $1.5 billion Series E closed on Oct. 19 at a $6.2 billion post-money valuation. Trace Capital and Innovation X led the round, with ARK Invest, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Morgan Stanley, Sandisk, T. Rowe Price and Tether Investments participating. Tether announced its participation the following day without disclosing its individual contribution or ownership stake. Tenstorrent said proceeds would support large-scale deployment of Galaxy servers and development of AI and CPU designs it licenses to chipmakers. Its inclusion reflects overlap between crypto investment firms and AI infrastructure rather than a blockchain-specific round.

Whop announced a $200 million Series D on Oct. 21, led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures, at a $5.1 billion valuation. The platform helps people and businesses sell digital products, software access, subscriptions and online services. The company said the capital will support international expansion and R&D focused on payments and advertising. Whop's stablecoin payment capabilities link its commerce business to crypto infrastructure. The round follows Tether's separate $200 million strategic investment in February, which valued Whop at $1.6 billion; only the new Series D enters the weekly total.

Robinhood Ventures Fund I disclosed on Oct. 21 that it purchased $30 million of preferred stock in Erebor Bank, a transaction that closed on Sept. 17. Erebor serves US businesses across technology, defense, robotics, AI and digital assets. Robinhood said the bank received its full national charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and FDIC insurance in February, and that its deposit base had grown beyond $7 billion. The deposit figure is separate from the preferred-stock investment. The exposure is accessible to retail investors through RVI, a closed-end fund listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and the preferred shares are investment securities rather than insured deposits.

Mural raised $15 million in a Series A led by Tether, with North Island Ventures and existing investors participating, in an announcement dated Oct. 20 that put cumulative funding at $28 million. The New York company provides account connectivity, payments, identity checks and compliance tools for financial platforms, combining local banking connections with blockchain payment networks. Mural said it has processed $2.1 billion in payments for users across 128 countries since launching its API in 2025, with customers including Deel and Opera. Proceeds will fund hiring, licensing, compliance and market expansion, along with controls for AI-agent-initiated payments.

Smaller disclosed rounds included Dataline's $10.6 million seed led by Lattice and Dispersion Capital, Nectar Group's $5 million seed for HoneyB, Hylo's $1 million strategic round led by Solana Ventures, and X Pay's $1 million from nine investors. Peso secured an undisclosed Tether-led pre-seed round announced Oct. 21, and Sonic Labs disclosed an OTC agreement for about 13 million S tokens with consideration undisclosed and excluded from the total.