Southeast Asia Blockchain Funding Doubles to 680 Million USD — but One Series D Supplies 60% of It

Southeast Asia’s blockchain startups have raised 680 million USD across 25 rounds in 2026, more than double the 319 million USD they collected all of last year — but the headline number hides a sharper story about concentration. One deal, Crypto.com’s 400 million USD Series D backed by Citadel Securities in July, supplied nearly 60% of the entire regional total, while deal count collapsed from 46 rounds in 2025 to just 25.

The figures come from a new report by market intelligence platform Tracxn, and they describe a market where capital is up 113% year over year, but the number of companies receiving it has fallen by nearly half. Strip out the Crypto.com round, and the remaining 24 deals brought in roughly 280 million USD — less than one mature exchange raised on its own.

## Long way from the 2022 peak

The regional funding cycle tells a story of boom, bust and an uneven recovery. According to Tracxn, annual investment dropped from a record 2.2 billion USD across 206 rounds in 2022 to 386 million USD in 2023, recovered to 804 million USD in 2024, then slid back to 319 million USD in 2025.

This year’s 680 million USD has already surpassed the 2025 total, but it remains about 69% below the 2022 record in dollar terms — and deal volume has fallen more than eightfold from the 206 rounds completed at the top. In other words, the region has more capital than last year flowing to far fewer companies.

Crypto financial services captured most of the available money, raising 498 million USD through 19 rounds, up 48.4% from the corresponding period last year. Tokenization platforms ranked second with 114 million USD, while platforms used to develop decentralized applications received 77 million USD. Tracxn’s sector classifications indicate investors favored exchanges, payments companies and financial infrastructure over less established blockchain projects.

That preference mirrors institutional activity elsewhere. In the United States, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation has been developing a tokenization service with more than 50 financial firms, while JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo have been working on tokenized deposit infrastructure. Established financial companies are putting capital into many of the same business areas receiving investment in Southeast Asia — settlement, tokenized assets and blockchain-based payments.

## 87% of funded startups stuck below Series A

Tracxn tracks 3,957 blockchain companies across Southeast Asia. Of those, 1,323 have received some form of equity investment — but only 167 have reached Series A or a later stage. Just 50 companies have advanced to Series B, 14 have completed a Series C, and only four have reached Series D or beyond, including Crypto.com following its 400 million USD financing.

The math leaves roughly 87% of equity-funded companies below Series A. Even among businesses that attracted investors, only about 13% have progressed to a stage where larger institutional rounds usually become available. The concentration is stark: Crypto.com’s round was larger than the combined 280 million USD raised through every other reported deal in 2026.

Southeast Asia has still produced six blockchain unicorns, according to Tracxn, including digital asset bank Sygnum, Thai exchange Bitkub, blockchain gaming company Sky Mavis and crypto financial services firm Amber Group. Sygnum reached a valuation above 1 billion USD after raising 58 million USD in early 2025 and operates from Switzerland and Singapore, providing regulated custody, trading and tokenization products to institutions.

## Singapore towers over the region

Singapore accounts for 82.5% of the region’s 6.2 billion USD in historical blockchain funding. Jakarta ranks as the next-largest center but holds only about 3% of cumulative investment, roughly 186 million USD — a vast gap between the city-state and every other market in the region.

Recent corporate activity has reinforced Singapore’s position. Coinbase announced in July that it plans to grow its Singapore workforce from about 150 employees to roughly 200 by the end of 2026, citing institutional demand and tokenization as focus areas.

Singapore’s regulatory structure has supported that development. The Monetary Authority of Singapore introduced frameworks for tokenized fixed-income products and investment funds in November 2024 under Project Guardian, an initiative involving more than 40 financial institutions, industry groups and policymakers across seven jurisdictions. By the time those frameworks were announced, Project Guardian had completed more than 15 trials involving six currencies, and MAS had formed the Guardian Wholesale Network with Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Schroders and UOB to support commercial uses of tokenized assets.

## Exits favor acquisitions over IPOs

Exit activity across the region has leaned heavily toward acquisitions rather than public listings. Tracxn counted 43 acquisitions in Southeast Asia’s blockchain industry against only four initial public offerings.

Among 2026 transactions, Japan’s SBI Holdings completed its acquisition of Singapore exchange Coinhako after receiving MAS approval in July, a deal that included a capital injection and share purchases from existing investors, though SBI did not disclose the stake size, amount or valuation. Coinhako, founded in 2014, holds a Major Payment Institution licence and will serve as a regulated base for stablecoins, tokenized products and cross-border trading between Japan and Southeast Asia. Tracxn also listed Bybit’s purchase of Indonesian platform NOBI among the year’s acquisitions.

For a region that once funded 206 blockchain startups a year, the new equilibrium is narrower: fewer bets, larger checks, and a clear tilt toward licensed financial infrastructure centered on Singapore. The speculative long tail of the last cycle has not returned — and the money that has come back wants compliance, custody and cash flows.

As of 14:45 UTC on September 6, Bitcoin traded near 79,685 USD, Ethereum near 2,482 USD and Solana near 106 USD.