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DeFi investors: 310 firms on 3+ rounds, Coinbase Ventures on 78

By NAUT Research · · 6 min read

310 DeFi investors investor firms on 3 or more DeFi rounds on NAUT, read 14 November 2026. Logos: Coinbase Ventures, Alliance DAO, Binance Labs, OKX Ventures, CMS Holdings, NGC Ventures, Amber Group, GSR, IOSG Ventures, The Spartan Group, Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital.

NAUT tracks 310 investor organisations that backed 3 or more rounds at DeFi projects, and 422 that backed 2 or more, across 735 DeFi rounds at 470 companies on its record as of 14 November 2026. The DeFi investors with the most rounds are Coinbase Ventures on 78, Alliance DAO on 57, and Binance Labs and OKX Ventures on 49 each.

How this was counted: on 14 November 2026 NAUT read every backer record on a funding round at a live project company tagged DeFi, and kept backers typed as investor organisations (angels and other people are out). The DeFi tag also sits on some chains and infrastructure teams, so read a round count as "rounds at DeFi-tagged companies on NAUT's record", never every DeFi deal in the market.

Which DeFi investors back the most rounds?

Coinbase Ventures is on the most DeFi rounds on NAUT's record, 78 at 62 companies, 21 more than the next firm. The table lists the top 25 by DeFi rounds backed, ties sorted by name; "firms backed" counts DeFi companies, and "latest" is the newest dated DeFi round each firm is on.

Investor Rounds Firms backed Latest
78 62 22 Jul '26
57 52 5 Dec '24
49 41 20 Oct '25
49 44 23 Dec '24
47 41 7 Aug '25
45 42 26 Aug '25
44 39 12 Mar '26
43 39 11 Aug '22
43 40 20 Oct '25
39 31 7 Aug '25
37 32 23 Jan '26
36 25 7 Aug '25
36 31 16 Apr '25
34 32 26 Aug '25
33 25 19 Aug '26
32 31 20 Oct '25
31 27 2 Feb '26
30 30 7 Feb '22
30 30 28 Aug '25
29 24 12 Mar '26
28 25 16 Apr '25
28 28 2 May '24
28 26 30 May '24
27 26 26 Aug '25
26 21 23 Dec '24

18 of the 25 have a DeFi round dated 2025 or 2026 on NAUT's record, and 6 have one dated 2026: Coinbase Ventures, Amber Group, The Spartan Group, Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital and SevenX Ventures.

Who are the 10 most active DeFi investors?

DeFi rounds backed, top 10 investors on NAUT
  1. Coinbase78
  2. Alliance57
  3. Binance49
  4. OKX49
  5. CMS47
  6. NGC45
  7. Amber44
  8. Alameda43
  9. GSR43
  10. IOSG39

The 10 sit between 39 and 78 rounds, and the gap from first to second (21 rounds) is wider than the gap from second to tenth (18).

What kind of firms are these DeFi investors?

The top 25 mix DeFi venture capital funds with exchange arms, trading firms and an accelerator, which matters when you pitch them. By their own NAUT descriptions and the outside sources checked for this article:

  • Exchange-linked arms. NAUT describes Coinbase Ventures as a VC arm of the Coinbase exchange, and Fortune calls it Coinbase's venture capital arm. NAUT describes HTX Ventures as the investment arm of HTX Group.
  • Trading firms and market makers. GSR's own homepage title reads "Crypto Trading Firm & Liquidity Provider". NAUT describes Wintermute as an algorithmic trading firm and Amber Group as a technology and trading software company. A founder can talk to these 3 about liquidity as well as a round.
  • An accelerator. Alliance DAO calls itself "the world's most selective accelerator & founder community" on its site.
  • A firm that no longer invests. Alameda Research, founded in 2017, filed for bankruptcy with FTX in November 2022 and wound down. Its 43 rounds are history, and its latest dated DeFi round is 11 August 2022.

Polychain Capital, founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco per Wikipedia, has the newest dated DeFi round in the top 25, 19 August 2026.

What this tells a BD team or a co-investor

  • The 6 firms with a DeFi round dated 2026 are the warmest accounts: they are writing DeFi checks now.
  • Coinbase Ventures alone is on 78 of the 735 rounds and 62 of the 470 DeFi companies, so many DeFi accounts share it as an investor.
  • Alameda Research and AU21 Capital have no dated DeFi round after February 2022 on NAUT's record: keep them for history, out of outreach.
How a BD team can work this list
  1. Start with 2026 activityCoinbase Ventures, Amber Group, The Spartan Group, Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital and SevenX Ventures each have a DeFi round dated 2026.
  2. Open the fund pageEach name links to a NAUT page with the fund's portfolio and team.
  3. Find the peopleThe page's team list shows who NAUT holds at the fund and which channels it has for each.
  4. Work the portfolioCoinbase Ventures' 62 DeFi companies are 62 accounts that share 1 investor intro.

What this tells a founder raising for a DeFi project

  • Start with the 18 firms in the top 25 with a DeFi round dated 2025 or 2026; the newest dated DeFi round for the other 7 is from 2024 or earlier.
  • Alliance DAO, an accelerator, is on 57 rounds at 52 companies, the second most on the list.
  • GSR, Wintermute and Amber Group trade as well as invest, so 1 meeting can cover the round and market making.
How a DeFi founder can use this list
  1. Cut to active firmsKeep the 18 of the top 25 with a DeFi round dated 2025 or 2026.
  2. Check each portfolioOpen the fund's NAUT page and look for a rival among its DeFi companies.
  3. Pick the personChoose a partner from the fund's team list on NAUT.
  4. Ask for a warm introAsk a founder in the same portfolio to introduce you.

How do you reach the people at these funds?

Each investor in the table links to its NAUT page, which lists the firm's portfolio and the team members NAUT holds, with each person's role and X handle on the free plan. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn for those people unlock on a paid plan.

Related reading on NAUT: Most active crypto VCs: 44 funds ranked, the leader led none and DeFi funding: 7 of 15 rounds went to perps, no VC led twice.

Can you pull this data through the NAUT API?

Yes: GET https://api.naut.so/v1/investors/coinbase-ventures with your key as $NAUT_KEY returns 1 fund with its team and portfolio, each row carrying the company, round type, amount and announce date, and GET https://api.naut.so/v1/projects?sector=DeFi lists DeFi projects to match them against. Each data call costs 5 credits, and the Essential plan at $49 a month holds 3,000 credits (docs, pricing). Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so start a 7-day trial.

DeFi investors FAQ

Which funds invest in DeFi projects the most?

On NAUT's record as of 14 November 2026, Coinbase Ventures backed the most DeFi rounds (78 at 62 companies), followed by Alliance DAO (57), Binance Labs (49) and OKX Ventures (49). NAUT counts 310 investor organisations on 3 or more DeFi rounds.

How many investors have backed more than 1 DeFi round?

NAUT holds 422 investor organisation rows on 2 or more DeFi rounds and 310 on 3 or more, out of 667 rows on at least 1, across 735 DeFi rounds at 470 companies, read 14 November 2026.

Which DeFi investors are still active in 2026?

Of the top 25 on NAUT, 6 have a DeFi round dated 2026: Coinbase Ventures, Amber Group, The Spartan Group, Polychain Capital, ParaFi Capital and SevenX Ventures, with Polychain Capital's newest on 19 August 2026.

Where can I find DeFi investors and the people to contact at each?

NAUT's investor pages list each of these 25 firms' DeFi portfolio and team, and GET https://api.naut.so/v1/investors/<fund-slug> returns 1 fund's team and portfolio for 5 credits a call. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn unlock on any paid NAUT plan, so start a 7-day trial.

Sources

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