[Exclusive] Tim Draper urges India to adopt blockchain and crypto for open, transparent governance

Tim Draper, the American venture capital investor and founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), said he wants to see blockchain and Web3 technology improve the Indian government’s processes and efficiency.

The Silicon Valley investor, who’s been a major proponent of decentralised technology, told The Decrypting Story exclusively:

“I’m looking for more gov-tech Web3 startups that can help governments, especially in India, move to a more open and transparent system. With Web3, governments can move away from slow and bureaucratic systems.”

Over the last decade, Draper has taken significant bets on Web3 startups. Draper Dragon, the investment arm connecting Silicon Valley with Asian startups, has funded the likes of Ledger, VeChain, IOTEX, CoinDCX, Coinbase, CropBytes, and many other blockchain projects.

More recently, the Draper Round Table was launched, seeking to act as a decentralised platform for family offices, corporate venture capitalists, angel investors and others to invest in high quality Web3 startups.

Opening up the economy

During his time in India, Draper met with several Indian blockchain startups across sectors.

He emphasised that in particular, he wants to see existing government models disrupted by blockchain and opened up to global opportunities, thereby bringing easier access to capital, healthcare, and infrastructure to solve local problems..

For instance, some industry experts consider connecting crypto capital to SME markets a useful application of blockchain tech. 

In 2021, serial crypto investor and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan wrote in a blog that India should encourage foreign crypto investors to finance Indian businesses. 

By connecting Indian MSMEs to crypto lenders, a small business owner should theoretically be able to receive funds from around the world as easily as they can make digital payments and exchange information domestically, he argued.

While such private-public sector collaboration could be possible, Draper rued the fact that no prominent Indian startup has “really gone after it”.

“In India, Web3 startups pay a lot of attention to the government, but they are more worried about regulations,” he said.

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Bitcoin and open governance

Draper is a big believer in Bitcoin (BTC).

In 2014, he received widespread publicity for spending $19 million to purchase 30,000 seized BTC from the Silk Road. He has also predicted the price of one Bitcoin will reach $250,000 in the coming months.

According to Draper, decentralised currency such as Bitcoin can power better governance in countries.

“Bitcoin has kept perfect records. In India, there is a major opportunity to move to a decentralised currency and a more open system for governance,” he said.

“The good actors in government realise blockchain can help the economy grow faster. The ones who oppose it perhaps have something to hide.”