Arc, Canton, Tempo Raise $1B+ as Institutional Capital Formation Shifts

Three crypto infrastructure firms – Arc, Canton, and Tempo – collectively raised more than $1 billion in a single fundraising cycle. The rounds assigned valuations of $3 billion, $2 billion, and $5 billion, respectively. The capital did not flow into a speculative token or a retail-facing exchange. It went into custody, settlement, and institutional-grade network infrastructure.

• Arc: $3 billion valuation, focused on institutional custody and prime services.
• Canton: $2 billion valuation, building a privacy-preserving settlement network for regulated assets.
• Tempo: $5 billion valuation, targeting on-chain institutional settlement and tokenized collateral mobility.

The simple read treats this as another crypto venture boom. The better read recognizes a capital formation phase that is structurally different from the 2021 cycle. That earlier wave was dominated by retail inflows chasing token prices. This one is driven by regulated entities building the rails for tokenized assets, stablecoin settlement, and compliant DeFi. The size and valuation of these rounds signal that allocators are underwriting a multi-year buildout, not a cyclical trade. The presence of non-venture limited partners in these rounds – pension funds, endowments, sovereign wealth funds – confirms that the capital stack has widened beyond the traditional crypto venture base.

GENIUS Act Shifted Institutional Capital Commitments

Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, pointed to the GENIUS Act as the legislative trigger that unlocked this round of institutional commitments. The act provided a federal framework for stablecoin issuance and custody, removing a legal overhang that had kept large allocators on the sidelines. With that clarity, the capital formation shifted from venture capital alone to a broader institutional base.