Crypto VC 10T Holdings CEO: Numerous crypto startups with valuations 50 to 80 times higher scare off venture capital firms

BlockBeats News, May 15th. According to Cointelegraph, on May 14th, Dan Tapiero, CEO of the crypto venture firm 10T Holdings, pointed out at the Toronto Consensus conference that many crypto startups are pursuing valuations far exceeding their revenue, making it difficult for venture capital to achieve returns. Tapiero said, "For some reason, founders and CEOs believe they should raise money at 50 to 80 times revenue. This makes it difficult for us to create returns for liquidity providers."

Tapiero revealed that his firm has rejected over 200 projects due to overvaluation, including now-bankrupt FTX, BlockFi, and Celsius. 10T Holdings' investment criteria include enterprise valuations of 4-5 billion USD or more, with a market-sales ratio not exceeding 10 times.

Despite concerns about a valuation bubble, PitchBook data shows that cryptocurrency venture capital transaction volume in the first quarter of 2025 grew over 100% to reach 6 billion USD. During the same discussion, Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead suggested that venture capital adopt an "Equity + Token" combination investment strategy, with 86% of the projects his firm invested in being profitable and 22 of them becoming unicorn companies.