Signals

Signals Q1’24: The EU illegalized crypto laundering

A roundup of fintech fundraises, exits, and product launches in Q1. Also, PE firms are honing in on key sectors, free tax filing is finally here, and how the EU’s new AML rules impact crypto.

Hey fintech friends,

Welcome to the first quarterly roundup of 2024!

For new readers, Signals is the premium subscriber edition of TWIF designed to get you away from the headlines and to explore the larger trendlines. Each quarter, we break down four key questions on fintech activity:

Which concepts are getting funded?
Where are exits, M&A, and SPACs concentrated?
Which firms are raising debt and venture funds for fintech?
Which products were launched over the last quarter?

Signals roundups are possible thanks to Hayden Hill, who collates insights from TWIF's newsletters into a comprehensive data dashboard each quarter.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to future editions here!

Overall activity

Fintechs raised a total of $5.37 billion in Q1, down 25% from the prior quarter and down 56% Year-over-Year. Though the number of rounds raised was up 10% QoQ, the average size of each raise shrank 32% QoQ.

Chart — *See the full Q1 '24 data* *here* *(for paid subscribers only).*

Plaid: Stitching Together the Future of Finance

Hey Fintechers and Fintech newbies 👋🏽 Regular TWIF readers and those who caught my 1st write-up on PayPal a few months back should already know me, but for those who don't, Hello! I'm Jas Shah, a reformed engineer and now fintech product consultant and advisor helping fintechs,

The stablecoin adoption journey: how (and why) fintechs are integrating stablecoins

Slowly, slowly: then all at once – Hemingway’s ‘law of motion’ explains how big changes often unfold. It’s a familiar story in fintech. Consider digital wallets or contactless payments: what began as cautious, incremental adoption eventually reached a tipping point, changing the way many of us pay. In 2024,

Rome wasn’t built in a day

In 2020, I wrote “All Roads Lead to Rome,” where I explored the state of consumer fintech and predicted where things might go. Since then, it feels like everything has changed. We’ve seen regulatory shifts, new and fading players, macroeconomic changes, emergent platforms and technology arise, and ecosystems such

The Front Page of Global Fintech