If we rewind to 2021, as we were starting to come out of the covid pandemic, there is nowhere you could look without seeing a flurry of investment rounds, many of them very, very big, backing Web3 and crypto startups. Everyone and their dog was looking to get a piece of the action.

Eventually, of course, it cooled off but it’s been making a big comeback in recent months, especially since the US elections late last year. What we are now starting to see, which we didn’t see even back when valuations were massive and everyone was looking for a crypto startup to sink their money into, is the spectre of exits.

Today I speak to GCV’s special features editor, Rob Lavine, about the growing tide of M&As we’re likely to see in the space, what kind of investors are looking to jump in, if we’re expecting the return of megarounds, and why gaming and entertainment is likely to be a huge frontier bringing in people who might not otherwise have been exposed to Web3.