Cash-rich startups are US venture capital’s digital coin challenge

Coin sales: A man walks past a signboard informing customers that Bitcoin can be used for payment at a store in Tokyo. Tech firms raised about US1.1bil in 89 coin sales this year, roughly 10 times more than that in the whole of 2016. — AFP

NEW YORK: US venture capital firms lining up for a slice of the burgeoning digital currency market are grappling with a novel challenge – some of the hottest tech startups that sell the coins just don’t need their money.

Only a few years ago, digital currency entrepreneurs, like other Silicon Valley peers, had to line up to pitch their ideas to venture capitalists, who controlled their destiny as virtually the only source of funding.