It wasn’t long ago that Indian venture capitalists were scurrying around trying to validate their cryptocurrency reputation. Ethereum wallet addresses adorned Twitter profiles. More than a dozen venture capital firms rushed to publish their own investment theses, some even lowering their high bar of credibility to hire young analysts well-versed in cryptocurrencies.

Several young partners, fearful of missing out on potentially life-changing deals, convinced senior management to invest in early-stage cryptocurrency startups at exorbitant valuations of $30-100 million. Cryptocurrency was going to be big and they were keen to find the next Flipkart or PhonePe in the emerging digital asset space. Pitch meetings were coming up with the 200th crypto exchange concept or the 33rd NFT marketplace idea that month.

The excitement was understandable. Cryptocurrencies were popular globally and the Indian tech scene was booming. Major US investors were agreeing that India would double its GDP by 2030. Indian startups have already raised over $100 billion in the last 10 years. Naturally, global cryptocurrency venture capital funds have flooded into India, hoping to replicate the success of Accel, Sequoia and Lightspeed a decade earlier.

As cryptocurrencies became mainstream, it seemed like the next logical step. Optimistic projections suggested that there were over 100 million cryptocurrency participants in India, although in reality, far fewer people are involved in any investment vehicle. Hackathons attracted thousands of young engineers who dreamed of big earnings and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to redefine financial markets and the internet.