Paradigm is widening its remit: the crypto-focused venture firm announced a $1.2 billion fourth fund aimed at backing AI, robotics, crypto and other deep-technology opportunities — a clear pivot that expands its thesis beyond pure digital assets while keeping crypto at the core of its strategy.
San Francisco-based Paradigm said Wednesday the new pool will continue its research-driven approach but broaden investments into autonomous hardware, AI systems and other “steep exponentials.” Managing partner Alana Palmedo framed the move on X (formerly Twitter): “$1.2B to invest in steep exponentials. 8 years ago we were backed by people who believed in the crypto frontier. Now we’re doubling down as frontiers are colliding across AI, crypto, space, deep tech, energy. Grateful to our partners.”
Founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, Paradigm has been one of crypto’s largest venture backers. The firm previously raised a $2.5 billion crypto fund in 2021 and an $850 million early-stage blockchain fund in 2024. Paradigm says its playbook remains “close to the metal” — researching, building and investing alongside founders — but applied now to a wider set of technological frontiers.
The firm highlighted a mix of portfolio companies and internal projects that illustrate the broadened scope:
- Robotics and deep tech: autonomous drone developer Zipline; space defense startup True Anomaly.
- AI: Nous Research, the company behind the Hermes Agent.
- Crypto bets: decentralized exchange Hyperliquid; prediction market platform Kalshi; and Tempo, a stablecoin-focused blockchain Paradigm co-founded with Stripe.
- Internal tools and research: Ethereum developer tools Foundry and Reth; AI agent project Centaur; and EVMbench, a blockchain security benchmark developed with OpenAI.
Paradigm’s movement comes as the crypto and payments ecosystem races to build infrastructure for AI agents that can move money and complete transactions with reduced human intervention. Firms including Coinbase and Stripe are already creating payment rails and wallet tooling designed to let AI agents use wallets, stablecoins and other financial primitives to execute tasks.
“This era favors those open-minded enough to throw out existing playbooks and recompute new views of reality frequently,” Paradigm wrote, arguing that “sufficiently steep exponentials are indistinguishable from magic.” The $1.2 billion fund signals the firm is betting those exponentials will increasingly sit at the intersection of AI, crypto and other frontier technologies.
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