CeFi Fuels $860 Million in Crypto Fundraising in April Amid Growing Trends in Predictions and AI Investments

RootData’s data indicates that CeFi raised approximately $606 million across 8 deals, infrastructure secured $105 million across 14 deals, and DeFi raised $90 million.

CeFi Concentration and Sector Breakdown

Data from April provided by Web3 analytics platform RootData reveals that the overall disclosed amount raised in the crypto primary market reached around $860 million, spread across 55 financing events and 5 M&A deals, marking a slight decrease from March’s 62 events but showing consistent activity.

Capital exhibited a strong preference for centralized platforms, with CeFi leading with about $606 million raised across 8 deals. This was followed by infrastructure at $105 million across 14 deals and DeFi at $90 million across 19 deals, making infrastructure the most active category by deal count as institutional interest continues to prioritize foundational tools and infrastructure.

The month’s top three rounds were focused on trading and Layer-1 (L1) projects. Vietnamese exchange CAEX secured $380 million from backers including OKX Ventures and HashKey Capital, while global exchange Kraken garnered a $200 million strategic investment from Deutsche Bank. Additionally, Layer-1 project Pharos Network completed a $44 million Series A funding round. CAEX and Kraken alone accounted for about $580 million, or roughly 67% of all disclosed capital in April, emphasizing the ongoing monetary concentration among a small number of CeFi leaders.

Funding in Prediction Markets and AI Expands

RootData’s detailed sector analysis indicates an evolution in the prediction-market narrative, shifting from last month’s “single giant” funding into a more diversified ecosystem development. Eight prediction-focused projects secured seed or angel funding, including decentralized prediction venue XO Market at $6 million, meme-based PUMPCADE with multiple rounds totaling $6 million, and Atlasx Protocol at $2 million.

This shift follows March’s capital influx that reignited interest in prediction markets and is now nurturing a cluster of smaller, more specialized platforms as opposed to a few dominant players. This trend aligns with insights shared in a recent crypto.news article, which noted that on-chain betting is transitioning from a niche activity to mainstream with relevance to elections and macroeconomic themes.

A similar trend is observed in artificial intelligence funding. RootData documented eight AI-related crypto projects raising funds in April, encompassing AI agents like Nava ($8.3 million seed) and AIW3.ai ($2 million), AI infrastructure such as Cluster Protocol ($5 million for decentralized model verification), and AI content creation startup Oh ($7.5 million Series A). This data supports a recent analysis from crypto.news describing how “AI x crypto is entering a multifaceted experimentation phase.”

Kraken also made headlines with one of April’s most notable “on-chain and off-chain” initiatives. The same month it raised $200 million from Deutsche Bank, the exchange acquired CFTC-regulated derivatives venue Bitnomial for $550 million, reinforcing a dual strategy of leveraging external capital while enhancing its regulated market structure—an approach previously discussed in a crypto.news feature.

On the investment front, GSR, Coinbase Ventures, L1D, Tether, Kosmos Ventures, and Animoca Brands emerged as the most active backers, each involved in three disclosed deals according to RootData. Their involvement aligns with broader trends in Q2 identified by crypto.news, showcasing a steady return of capital to infrastructure, trading platforms, and AI-related projects, even as overall deal sizes are increasingly concentrated at the top.