Amidst the crypto winter and economic downturn, many observers remained hopeful that the sector was on its way back. However, in early March 2019, a series of unfortunate events cemented this downward trend. The Luna crash saw the largest ever speculative market loss in history and led to the bankruptcy of Celsius , followed by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest for alleged fraud. In light of these events, many investors are reconsidering their involvement in the cryptocurrency space.
In 2021, a record $29.2 billion was raised by web3 startups worldwide. Though this number has dipped in 2022 to $21.5 billion, it is still much more than the total of $4.8 billion and $4.2 billion raised by these companies in 2020 and 2019, respectively. This trend suggests that there is still significant investor interest in this space, despite the bear market experienced recently.- With the advent of blockchain technology and Smart Contracts becoming more mainstream, it is likely that we will see even more money being invested into web3 startups over the next few years.
Despite being hit hard by the stock market crash, many Black people remain optimistic about the potential of crypto. Many believe that it is a necessary correction after years of speculative bubbles and financial abuse. Crypto has the potential to disrupt old systems and create new ones that better serve everyone involved.
Simone Berry and People of Crypto co-founder TJ Collett spoke about the cryptoeconomy downturn, how it removed bad actors from the space, and how this created an opportunity for good actors to emerge. This new development will ensure sustainable growth for the crypto ecosystem, adding value to users overall.
The burst of regulation in the crypto world is likely to have a positive impact on the space, as it will help to focus minds and return to tackling real world problems. This period of time was a necessary one for the crypto space as it allowed for rampant speculation and fraud to take place, but now that things have quieted down it is expected that innovation will be reigning once again.
The increase in funding for Black web3 founders is likely due to the crypto winter and the resulting rise in cryptocurrency prices. During this time, investors were looking for projects that could potentially provide a return on their investments, and Black web3 startups fit that bill.
As of early 2019, the Black web3 founders had raised a combined $23.4 million out of $39.5 billion raised by all blockchain startups globally. Considering that Blackweb3 was founded in late 2017 and had only raised $11 million throughout 2018 and 2019, its lack of success comparatively suggests that there may be more fruitful avenues for investment towards other blockchain startups with wider platforms or greater potential to revolutionize the technology industry as a whole.
Amidst the overall downturn in web3 funding, Black founders were able to pick up record sums of money. This could be indicative of investors’ shifting perception of Black entrepreneurs, as opposed to the traditional one where they are often counted out and considered risky investments.
