Fintech funding falls to lowest levels since 2017 as crypto surges

Global funding for fintech ventures has fallen to its lowest level in seven years with a 16% quarter-over-quarter dip between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. This is despite a reported 11% gain for venture funding across sectors. 

Analytics firm CB Insights recently released its quarterly VC report highlighting activity for Q1 2024. The firm called the quarter a “mixed bag for the venture market,” citing eight straight quarters of decline in equity deals as a negative factor. This was somewhat offset by gains from a handful of massive deals including Amazon’s $4 billion investment in Anthropic AI.

Venture funding

Venture funding for Q1 2024 reached $58.4 billion, according to the report, this is a net quarter-over-quarter gain of 11% against Q4 2023’s $52.8 billion. This indicates the possibility for a rebound, however the overall market remains down 21% vs. Q1 2023 and 62% vs. Q1 2022.

Losses were reflected in the number of new unicorns — billion-dollar startups — hitting only 19 for the quarter. The previous quarter brough in 23, indicating around a 17% decrease quarter-over-quarter to start 2024.

Fintech decline

Fintech didn’t fare as well as other VC sectors in Q1 2024. Per the report, funding fell 16% quarter-over-quarter between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 bringing the current fintech venture market in line with 2017’s.

In the United States, the primary geographic funding arena for venture capital in the fintech sector, this decline coincided with increased scrutiny by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) into banking relationships with fintech companies.

Crypto surge

Meanwhile, Q1 2024 has seen unprecedented highs for Bitcoin as well as a market cap high for the quarter for all cryptocurrencies of $2.9 trillion — down to $2.71 trillion in Q2, as of the time of this article’s publication.

Related: $102M shorts liquidated as Bitcoin price surpassed $72K

This market movement comes in the final week and a half before the next Bitcoin halving. As Cointelegraph recently reported, some analysts are predicting a lift of as much as 160% in price, bringing BTC from its current mark of about $70K to somewhere around $150K. Other analysts, however, recently called the halving a “sell the news” event.