Bitwise: Why are top VCs疯狂 betting on new public chains?
- Core Thesis: Recently, three public chains—Arc, Canton, and Tempo—designed specifically for stablecoin and asset tokenization scenarios have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. This reveals three major industry trends: clearer regulatory legislation, privacy protection becoming a business necessity, and the official entry of traditional giants into the competitive landscape.
- Key Elements:
- Circle's Arc raised $222 million at a $3 billion valuation, with investors including BlackRock and the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange; Digital Asset, the developer of the Canton Network, secured $300 million at a $2 billion valuation, led by a16z.
- All the aforementioned funding rounds occurred after the U.S. Congress passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, indicating that regulatory clarity has been a key catalyst for institutional capital entry.
- All three public chains have native, built-in private transaction capabilities. This differentiates them from public chains like Ethereum and Solana, precisely addressing corporate business privacy needs, such as keeping unfinished transactions and payroll details confidential from the public eye.
- Arc is led by the publicly traded company Circle; Canton's investors include Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs, Citadel, DTCC, and Nasdaq; Tempo is jointly built by Stripe and Paradigm, involving companies like Visa and Shopify.
- The entry of traditional giants will bring more substantial capital and standardized operations to the industry. It is expected to drive the pace of industry innovation through competition and cooperation with native public chains.
Original author: Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise
Original compilation: Saoirse, Foresight News
Industry news often comes in waves. When such moments occur, they warrant close attention, as significant trends are undoubtedly unfolding.
Just this Monday, stablecoin issuer Circle officially announced that its new blockchain project, Arc, had completed a $222 million funding round, achieving a valuation of $3 billion. The investor lineup was impressive, including top institutions like BlackRock, Apollo Funds, and the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
The day before, another emerging blockchain, the Canton Network, developed by Digital Asset, made headlines with its funding news: a $300 million raise led by a16z, at a $2 billion valuation.
Similarly, Stripe's Tempo blockchain has been leading the pack: it completed a $500 million funding round late last year, boasting a $5 billion valuation, and subsequently announced strategic partnerships with companies like DoorDash and Visa.
Arc, Canton, and Tempo are all public chains tailored for stablecoins and asset tokenization scenarios. This concentrated wave of funding has also led me to summarize three crucial insights for the crypto industry.
Capital Always Follows Regulatory Legislation
The multi-hundred-million-dollar fundraising rounds mentioned above all occurred after the U.S. Congress passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025.
I have always believed that before the bill was enacted, the sluggish and lackluster pace of U.S. crypto legislation directly dampened industry investment enthusiasm; major institutions were reluctant to rashly deploy businesses or build public chain infrastructure under the shadow of regulatory uncertainty. Now, with regulatory clarity, the industry landscape is changing.
No one can be sure whether these projects could maintain their current valuations or complete such large fundraises without the backing of the GENIUS Act, but it is certain that regulatory clarity has played a key catalytic role.
For investors, the most thought-provoking question is: If the comprehensive market structure bill for the crypto industry, the Clarity Act, successfully passes through Congress, what magnitude of industry opportunity will it unleash?
The scope of the Clarity Act far exceeds that of the GENIUS Act, and the final text of the bill has yet to be finalized, making it impossible to precisely predict its impact. However, it is clear that the asset tokenization sector and compliant financial infrastructure will be the biggest beneficiaries. I also hope the final version of the bill will benefit areas like decentralized finance and innovative token design, but specifics still await the official text. The Clarity Act is worth everyone's continued attention.
Privacy Protection Could Be the Killer Core Application
Arc, Canton, and Tempo share a common characteristic that also represents their biggest difference from Ethereum and Solana: all three public chains natively incorporate private transaction functionality.
As crypto assets gradually integrate into mainstream commercial scenarios, this design logic aligns well with practical needs. The transparency of public blockchains is fundamentally a cornerstone of trust, but in commercial settings, it can become a weakness.
Companies don't want every pending transaction to be visible to the entire network, nor do professionals want their salary details to be easily queried by anyone via a block explorer. In these cases, transparency is no longer an advantage but a practical pain point.
Even the staunchest advocates of blockchain transparency have to admit: the business world inherently requires a degree of privacy and information confidentiality. These three emerging public chains have embedded privacy functions from the ground up, precisely targeting the real needs of traditional institutions. The recent rounds of high-value funding also confirm that this track is heading in the right direction.
Traditional Giants Officially Enter the Arena
The most distinctive aspect of Arc, Canton, and Tempo is their backing by top-tier companies and financial institutions.
- Arc is being developed by the publicly traded company Circle;
- Canton's investor base includes Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs, Citadel, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Nasdaq, BNY Mellon, S&P Global, and Virtu Financial;
- Tempo is a joint venture between payment giant Stripe and crypto venture capital firm Paradigm, with companies like Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Shopify, Visa, and OpenAI contributing to its architectural design.
This contrasts sharply with legacy public chains: Ethereum was conceived by a 19-year-old college dropout on a Bitcoin forum, while Solana originated from a flash of inspiration by a Qualcomm engineer.
Of course, this doesn't mean traditional giants will necessarily win; in fact, I personally have a long-term preference for crypto-native projects. However, it's undeniable that the entry of banks and large tech companies brings greater capital depth, stronger execution capabilities, and more professional standardized operations to the industry.
Competition and cooperation among peers drive growth. I believe that amidst this two-way competition between giants and native projects, the entire crypto industry's innovation speed and development boundaries will be further expanded.
After all, it is competition that truly sharpens the steel and fosters progress.
