Early-stage funding has declined for 7 consecutive quarters, and the money has really gone to chasing mature projects. Small teams are finding it increasingly difficult to survive.

Wu says that, according to CryptoRank data, early-stage funding has been in decline for seven consecutive quarters, with the number of early funding rounds decreasing by 63% and the funding amount dropping by 50% since Q2 2024. Although there was a brief rebound in Q3 2025, the overall trend remains unchanged. As investors increasingly favor larger and more mature projects, the gap between early-stage and later-stage funding continues to widen.