Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion Fund to Expand Beyond Crypto Into AI and Robotics

Paradigm Raises $1.2B for Fourth Fund in AI Push

Crypto venture firm Paradigm is widening its investment gaze toward AI and other frontier industries with its latest fund. Paradigm has raised $1.2 billion for its fourth fund, which will expand the crypto venture capital firm's investments into artificial intelligence and related technologies. The company said on Wednesday that its latest fund will invest "first in crypto, and now across AI, robotics and other frontiers." "We continue investing in crypto and the reinvention of markets and the financial system," Paradigm added, highlighting its investments in the crypto perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid and the prediction markets platform Kalshi. Paradigm launched in 2018 and has raised more than $4 billion for three funds focused on crypto. Its interest in AI follows a trend of originally crypto-focused companies that have been lured to the lucrative and fast-growing sector. Source: Matt Huang The Wall Street Journal reported in February that Paradigm was seeking to raise $1.5 billion for a new fund that would invest in AI and robotics. The company's management reportedly decided to broaden its investments as it didn't want to be restricted and miss out on attractive deals. There was also a noted overlap between crypto and AI, such as with AI agents. Crypto exchanges such as Crypto.com and Coinbase have made big bets on AI agents, offering the technology to their users and updating their platforms to cater to the bots. Crypto funding sinks as AI funding peaks Other crypto venture companies have moved beyond crypto, including Framework Ventures, which raised $400 million for its fourth fund last month for investments in crypto as well as AI, robotics and energy. In May, crypto venture firm Haun Ventures raised $1 billion to back crypto startups and expanded into AI for the first time. Global venture funding hit a record $510 billion in the first half of 2026, a new record for half-year investments that surpassed the $440 billion invested across all of last year, Crunchbase reported on July 2. AI companies made up the majority of the investment, with OpenAI and Anthropic accounting for more than 40% of funding in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, crypto captured only a portion of all venture flows, with funding into crypto in the first half hitting $10.8 billion, according to Cryptorank. Paradigm highlighted that some of its non-crypto investments included the autonomous drone delivery service Zipline, the robotic metal fabrication platform SendCutSend and the AI company Nous Research, which created the open-source AI model Hermes Agent. It added that it would "continue to research and build where it accelerates" the crypto industry, and noted the blockchain tools Foundry and Reth and the AI projects EVMbench and Centaur.

Paradigm Raises $1.2 Billion in Shift From Crypto to AI | PYMNTS.com

"Crypto was the first frontier for us, and it continues to be a really exciting one," managing partner Alana Palmedo said, per the report. "But there's so much else happening right now that's pretty hard to ignore." The crypto market has been struggling, the report said. The price of Bitcoin is down nearly 30% this year. Meanwhile, venture funding in the AI sector made up 70% of startup investments worldwide during the second quarter of 2026. Paradigm has already made numerous investments out of its new fund, including autonomous drone delivery startup Zipline International, valued at $7.6 billion in January, and space defense company True Anomaly, valued at $2.2 billion in April, according to the report. Paradigm also builds tech of its own, in some cases to launch new companies. Earlier this year, the firm debuted an evaluation tool for AI agents with OpenAI. Managing partner Matt Huang also leads Tempo, a payments blockchain launched in conjunction with Stripe, the report said. Paradigm is building a prediction markets platform, which is due to become its own independent company, Huang said, per the report. The tech is being developed on top of existing prediction markets platforms such as Kalshi and will not compete with them. Paradigm never set out to concentrate only on crypto investments, but to capitalize on shifts in the tech landscape. At one time, that meant digital assets, but the focus has now moved to AI, Huang said, according to the report. "It feels to us like it really changes everything if you're a founder operating a company or an investor thinking about the future," he said, per the report. Meanwhile, it was reported in April that 40 cents of every venture capital dollar invested in crypto companies in 2025 went to companies developing products that combine AI and crypto. That was up from 18 cents of every dollar one year earlier.

Paradigm raises $1.2 billion fund to expand into AI and robotics By Investing.com

Investing.com - Paradigm, the venture capital firm founded to invest in cryptocurrency companies, raised $1.2 billion for its fourth fund to expand investments beyond crypto into artificial intelligence and robotics, the firm announced Wednesday. The new fund marks Paradigm's shift toward broader technology investments following increased funding activity in AI startups and a decline in crypto-related investments. The firm, which launched in 2018, said it will back founders across multiple stages in sectors including autonomous systems, manufacturing, and space defense. Paradigm's portfolio now includes investments in Zipline for autonomous drone delivery, SendCutSend for rapid manufacturing, True Anomaly for orbital space defense, and Nous Research, which develops AI agent technology called Hermes Agent. The firm continues to invest in cryptocurrency projects alongside its expanded focus. The fund will support crypto investments including Hyperliquid and its ecosystem builder Trade[XYZ], Tempo, a stablecoin and blockchain project co-founded with Stripe, and Kalshi, a prediction markets exchange. Paradigm also develops blockchain and AI tools such as Foundry, Reth, and Centaur. The firm said it will continue to research and build technology infrastructure, including security work such as EVMbench, developed in collaboration with OpenAI. Partners Matt Huang and Alana Palmedo announced the fund in a Wednesday blog post. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.