A new analysis by CryptoRank examined 3,757 projects that disclosed a Pre-Seed or Seed round and tracked what happened afterward.
The study looked at whether projects subsequently disclosed a Series A round, launched a tracked token, reached both milestones or recorded neither.
CryptoRank's dataset contains 5,990 funding-round records covering 4,431 unique projects across the selected stages as of August 27, 2026. The primary cohort consists of 3,757 projects with at least one Pre-Seed, Extended Pre-Seed, Seed or Extended Seed record.
The results suggest that token launches have become a more common visible milestone than Series A funding, although the two outcomes should not be treated as equivalent measures of project quality or business maturity.
Later funding rounds become more selective
Crypto startups often begin with the same funding structure as other venture-backed companies. A pre-seed or seed round finances initial development, followed by Series A as the business begins to scale.
Later rounds can support further expansion before an acquisition or public listing. Only 588 projects in the cohort disclosed a Series A round, representing 15.7% of the total. The median time between early-stage funding and Series A was 15 months.
Token launches were considerably more common. CryptoRank identified 1,152 projects, or 30.7% of the cohort, that launched a tracked token.
Among them, 974 launched a token without a disclosed Series A round, while 178 achieved both milestones. Another 410 projects reached Series A without having a tracked token. Projects such as Acala Network, Celestia and Ondo Finance appear among the 178 that recorded both milestones.
The probability of another venture round increases among projects that successfully make it through the earlier stages.
CryptoRank's data shows that 22.5% of Series A projects subsequently reached Series B. The progression rate increased to 26.2% between Series B and Series C, while 31.9% of Series C projects reached Series D or a later disclosed stage.
The median interval between rounds was relatively consistent, at 16 months following Series A, 14 months following Series B and 13 months following Series C.
Market cycles changed balance
The relationship between venture funding and token launches also varies considerably by the year in which projects entered the market.
More than half of the projects in the 2018 and 2019 cohorts reached Series A, while tracked-token rates remained around 30%. In 2020, the balance shifted, with 41% reaching Series A and 47.7% recording a token launch.
The difference became more pronounced among projects first funded in 2021. Only 16.7% reached Series A, while 53.3% had launched a tracked token.
The timing reflects both market conditions and the amount of time available for projects to mature.
More recent cohorts cannot yet be compared directly. Projects entering the dataset in 2025 or 2026 have had substantially less time to reach later funding rounds or launch tokens, making their current graduation rates inherently incomplete.
