- This past year has been a tough one for fintech
- Almost all of the companies on the list lost value and were forced to cut costs
- There are no “newcomers”
Forbes magazine yesterday, June 6, published its ranking of the best fintech firms in the United States. The “top ten” includes the most expensive and “active” in the investment field companies. Topping the list is payment provider Stripe.
Despite a significant market downturn, the company attracted $6.5 billion in investment in March this year with a valuation of $50 billion.. For all of 2022, the firm processed a whopping $817 billion in payments. Among its customers are OpenAI, Microsoft and even Ford.
In second place is settlement account provider Chime with a valuation of $25 billion.. It is the largest digital bank in the U.S., but the company has not raised funds since August 2021.
In third place, unexpectedly, is Ripple at a valuation of $15 billion. The company is in a protracted legal battle with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), which has somewhat diminished its popularity among venture capitalists. However, the firm’s CEO predicts it will win soon.
The top five is rounded out by Blockchain.com ($14 billion) and Plaid ($13.4 billion).. OpenSea is slightly behind the latter at a valuation of $13.3 billion. The marketplace suffered significant financial (after the launch of Blur) and reputational (insider trading case) losses.</nbsp;
Apparently, this is what prevented OpenSea from increasing investment and climbing the rankings. You can read the full list here.
Forbes noted that last year was a difficult one for fintech. Most of the companies on the list aggressively cut costs, including by laying off some staff.</nbsp;
The amount of investment raised also declined. And none of the big companies in this segment went public (IPO).</nbsp;
This significantly raises the entry threshold for startups. In the past months there are almost no new “cryptocurrency unicorns” on the market, firms with valuation over $1 billion.</nbsp;</nbsp