Key Takeaways
- • Tenstorrent's $1.5 billion Series E accounted for roughly 85.1% of the $1.7626 billion in crypto venture capital funding announced across eight disclosed financings from October 17–23, 2026, according to The Cryptonomist.
- • Tenstorrent completed the round on October 19 at a $6.2 billion post-money valuation, led by Trace Capital and Innovation X, with Tether Investments participating alongside ARK Invest, Morgan Stanley, Sandisk, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity.
- • Whop raised $200 million in a Series D on October 21, led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures, at a reported $5.1 billion valuation to fund international expansion and payments and advertising R&D.
- • Tether led Mural's $15 million Series A and Peso's pre-seed round, reinforcing its push into stablecoin payment infrastructure across emerging markets.
- • Smaller deals spanned AI-agent data (Dataline, $10.6 million seed), Bitcoin-collateral income (Nectar Group, $5 million seed) and automated USDC payments (X Pay, $1 million).
Summary
A single AI computing financing dominated crypto-linked venture funding during the week of October 17–23, 2026. Tenstorrent's $1.5 billion Series E accounted for approximately 85.1% of the $1.7626 billion total across eight disclosed financings, according to The Cryptonomist's weekly tally, which drew on Crypto Fundraising, DeFiLlama and DropsTab and checked against company announcements and investor disclosures. The tally counts financing announcements, including transactions completed before the period, and excludes valuations, cumulative fundraising figures and previously announced offerings.
Tenstorrent completed its equity financing on October 19, with Trace Capital and Innovation X leading and establishing a $6.2 billion post-money valuation. Tether Investments participated alongside ARK Invest, Morgan Stanley, Sandisk, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management & Research Company, with Tether confirming its participation on October 20. The company said proceeds will fund deployment of Galaxy servers at scale and development of AI and CPU designs licensed to chipmakers. It operates in Santa Clara and Austin.
Whop's October 21 Series D brought in $200 million, led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures. The company placed its valuation at $5.1 billion and said the capital will support international expansion and research and development in payments and advertising. The platform supports sales of digital products, subscriptions, software access and online services, with stablecoin payment capabilities linking commerce to crypto infrastructure. A separate $200 million Tether strategic investment in February valued Whop at $1.6 billion and is excluded from this period.
In banking and payments, Tether led Mural's $15 million Series A alongside North Island Ventures and existing investors, bringing cumulative funding to $28 million as of its October 20 announcement. Mural said it has processed $2.1 billion across 128 countries since its API launched in 2025, with customers including Deel and Opera. Robinhood Ventures Fund I disclosed a preferred-stock purchase in Erebor, a US business bank that received its full national charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and FDIC insurance in February; the transaction closed September 17 and is excluded from the funding total.
Other deals included Dataline's $10.6 million seed round, co-led by Lattice and Dispersion Capital; Nectar Group's $5 million seed for HoneyB, which aims to pair Bitcoin collateral with institutional-grade income strategies; Solana Ventures' lead on Hylo's $1 million strategic round; X Pay's $1 million raise from nine investors for automated USDC payments using x402; and Tether's lead on Bolivian fintech Peso's pre-seed round to expand Latin American USDT payment infrastructure.
Tenstorrent completed its equity financing on October 19, with Trace Capital and Innovation X leading and establishing a $6.2 billion post-money valuation. Tether Investments participated alongside ARK Invest, Morgan Stanley, Sandisk, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity Management & Research Company, with Tether confirming its participation on October 20. The company said proceeds will fund deployment of Galaxy servers at scale and development of AI and CPU designs licensed to chipmakers. It operates in Santa Clara and Austin.
Whop's October 21 Series D brought in $200 million, led by Sequoia and Shopify Ventures. The company placed its valuation at $5.1 billion and said the capital will support international expansion and research and development in payments and advertising. The platform supports sales of digital products, subscriptions, software access and online services, with stablecoin payment capabilities linking commerce to crypto infrastructure. A separate $200 million Tether strategic investment in February valued Whop at $1.6 billion and is excluded from this period.
In banking and payments, Tether led Mural's $15 million Series A alongside North Island Ventures and existing investors, bringing cumulative funding to $28 million as of its October 20 announcement. Mural said it has processed $2.1 billion across 128 countries since its API launched in 2025, with customers including Deel and Opera. Robinhood Ventures Fund I disclosed a preferred-stock purchase in Erebor, a US business bank that received its full national charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and FDIC insurance in February; the transaction closed September 17 and is excluded from the funding total.
Other deals included Dataline's $10.6 million seed round, co-led by Lattice and Dispersion Capital; Nectar Group's $5 million seed for HoneyB, which aims to pair Bitcoin collateral with institutional-grade income strategies; Solana Ventures' lead on Hylo's $1 million strategic round; X Pay's $1 million raise from nine investors for automated USDC payments using x402; and Tether's lead on Bolivian fintech Peso's pre-seed round to expand Latin American USDT payment infrastructure.
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