Paradigm raised a $1.2 billion fund to invest in what it calls the 'technical frontier,' expanding beyond crypto into AI and robotics. The crypto venture capital firm, founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam, has already deployed capital into drone-delivery firm Zipline, valued at $7.6 billion, and space-defense startup True Anomaly, valued at $2.2 billion. The move comes as AI startups pulled in roughly 70% of all global venture funding last quarter, while crypto deal counts have dropped sharply and Bitcoin sits down about 30% on the year. Managing partner Alana Palmedo told Bloomberg that crypto remains an exciting frontier 'but there's so much else happening right now that's pretty hard to ignore.' Paradigm maintains it isn't leaving crypto, having co-led Morpho's $175 million round in June and led a seed round for a tokenized-Treasuries startup this month.
Paradigm Deploys Capital Across AI and Defense Startups
Paradigm built its name as one of crypto's largest backers since its 2018 founding. The firm's $1.2 billion fund represents a notable widening of scope into AI and robotics investments. The firm has deployed capital into Zipline, a drone-delivery company valued at $7.6 billion, and True Anomaly, a space-defense startup valued at $2.2 billion, both outside the crypto sector.
The firm's crypto investments continue alongside its AI expansion. Paradigm co-led Morpho's $175 million funding round in June and led a seed round for a tokenized-Treasuries startup this month. The firm holds positions in Kalshi and other prediction-market firms. Matt Huang has argued for years that crypto and AI aren't a zero-sum competition, and the firm is evaluating AI deals with its existing technical team rather than spinning up a separate group.
BNB Chain Targets 100,000 TPS with New Layer-1 for AI Agents
BNB Chain unveiled a second-half 2026 roadmap centered on a new Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for 'agentic trading,' meaning autonomous AI agents that execute trades, manage portfolios, and provide liquidity on their own. The chain targets more than 100,000 transactions per second, sub-50-millisecond preconfirmation, and sub-second finality, aiming to match centralized-exchange speed while keeping self-custody.
The network would be the fourth in the BNB stack alongside BNB Smart Chain, opBNB, and Greenfield. A testnet is planned for late 2026 and mainnet in early 2027. To serve AI agents that need millisecond execution, the chain removes the public mempool and replaces it with a private flow. The roadmap also adds native privacy, account abstraction, AI-powered security, and post-quantum cryptography research, using a hybrid approach that layers quantum-resistant protection on top of today's cryptography.
Autonomous agents settled $73 million across 176 million blockchain transactions over the past year. McKinsey projects retail agentic commerce could reach $5 trillion by the end of the decade. Google, Coinbase, and Visa are building agentic-payment systems. BNB Chain is joining a race for high-throughput chains that already includes Solana's Firedancer, Monad, and MegaETH.
FAQ
What did Paradigm do with its $1.2 billion fund?
Paradigm raised a $1.2 billion fund to invest in AI and robotics, expanding beyond crypto. The firm has deployed capital into Zipline, a drone-delivery company valued at $7.6 billion, and True Anomaly, a space-defense startup valued at $2.2 billion. Paradigm continues crypto investments, having co-led Morpho's $175 million round in June.
What are the technical specifications of BNB Chain's new Layer-1?
BNB Chain's new Layer-1 targets more than 100,000 transactions per second, sub-50-millisecond preconfirmation, and sub-second finality. The chain removes the public mempool and replaces it with a private flow. A testnet is planned for late 2026 and mainnet in early 2027. The chain is purpose-built for autonomous AI agents that execute trades and manage portfolios.
