2025 New Crypto Unicorns: 8 Companies Thriving Amid Primary Market Winter

In 2025, the crypto industry's primary market faced its harshest winter yet, with only 902 financing projects—a 41% year-over-year drop—despite total funding growth driven by giants like Binance.[RootData] Yet, eight standout companies defied the odds, achieving unicorn status (valuations over $1 billion) through innovative products in payments, AI, DeFi, and privacy tech.[Odaily]

A Glimpse into 2025's Crypto Funding Landscape

The year marked a "winner-takes-most" era, where deal volume plummeted for five straight years, but capital concentrated on projects solving real-world pain points like compliant payments, high-performance infrastructure, and AI-blockchain integration. Investors prioritized clear business models and regulatory compliance amid tightening scrutiny. This resilience signals maturing trends: stablecoin adoption for global payments, privacy-preserving tech, and bridges between TradFi and crypto—key themes users care about for secure, scalable blockchain applications.[RootData]

These unicorns reflect capital's shift toward infrastructure enabling everyday crypto use, from seamless fiat-to-stablecoin exchanges to enterprise-grade custody.

Spotlight on the 8 New Crypto Unicorns

Here's a breakdown of the eight companies, spanning diverse sectors:

• Lighter: A high-performance decentralized perpetuals exchange (DEX) on L2 infrastructure, rivaling CEX speeds. In November 2025, it raised $68 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by Founders Fund and Ribbit Capital. Its token LIT launched end-of-year, listing on Robinhood and Coinbase, with spot trading now live and a $1.6 billion FDV.[RootData]

• Tempo: A payment-focused Layer 1 blockchain co-developed by Stripe and Paradigm, supporting major stablecoins for low-cost, high-throughput global transactions. It secured $500 million in October at unicorn valuation, led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks, with testnet launch partnering Kalshi, Klarna, and UBS.[Odaily]

• Kalshi: A compliant prediction markets platform that exploded with $23.8 billion in trading volume (up 1108% YoY). It raised $185 million, $300 million, and $1 billion across three rounds, peaking at $11 billion valuation from Sequoia, a16z, and Paradigm.[RootData]

• Zama: Pioneering fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for blockchain privacy. June's $57 million round hit over $1 billion valuation (Pantera Capital-led), followed by testnet/mainnet launches and a January token sale via CoinList using Dutch auction.[RootData]

• Sygnum: Switzerland's regulated crypto bank offering custody, trading, staking, and structured products for institutions and HNWI. January's $58 million strategic round pushed it past $1 billion; former CFTC Chair Christopher Giancarlo joined as advisor.[Odaily]

• Nous Research: AI meets decentralization. April's $50 million round (Paradigm-led) valued it at $1 billion, building on $20 million seed from Distributed Global and others.[RootData]

• Flying Tulip: An all-in-one DeFi protocol by Andre Cronje, innovating with on-chain redemption rights for investor security. September's $200 million seed hit $1 billion valuation, backed by Brevan Howard Digital, CoinFund, and FalconX.[Odaily]

• RedotPay: Hong Kong-based stablecoin payment gateway bridging crypto and fiat for unbanked users, focusing on real-world spending via exchange, clearing, and payments.[RootData]

What This Means for Crypto in 2026 and Beyond

These unicorns highlight 2025's pivot to practical utility: payments infrastructure like Tempo and RedotPay aligns with stablecoin surges, while Zama and Sygnum address privacy and compliance—critical as regulations evolve. With fintech funding up 27% amid big AI bets, expect more TradFi-crypto convergence.[Crunchbase] For users navigating volatile assets and DeFi yields from protocols like Lighter or Flying Tulip, secure self-custody remains essential.

Secure your exposure to these trends with OneKey hardware wallet. Its air-gapped signing and multi-chain support make it ideal for safely managing stablecoins, DeFi tokens, and privacy assets—empowering you to engage with 2025's top innovators without compromise. Explore OneKey's features here.