Meet man who quit IIT Bombay without getting degree, moved to US, later earned Rs 286 crore in just 5 months by...

For many students in India, getting into an IIT is a dream they work tirelessly to achieve. However, there are a few who, after making it to these prestigious institutions, choose to walk away to pursue different paths. Rahul Rai is one of them. He dropped out of IIT Bombay in 2015, leaving behind the chance to complete his engineering degree. Instead, he moved to the United States to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School.

After graduating in 2019, Rahul began his career as an analyst in the Foreign Exchange (FX) Macro Hedge Funds team at Morgan Stanley in the U.S., where he worked for over a year. In 2020, he decided to leave his job, returning to India with a new goal in mind. Around this time, cryptocurrency was becoming popular in India, especially after the first COVID-19 lockdown. Intrigued by digital assets and blockchain technology, Rahul did extensive research in the field, ultimately deciding to launch his own crypto hedge fund.

In January 2021, Rahul co-founded Gamma Point Capital with his friends, Eash Aggarwal and Sanat Rao. Gamma Point Capital was designed to invest in digital assets, and thanks to Rahul's vision, it quickly became a success. The company attracted attention in the growing crypto market, gaining traction within months.

Soon after, an irresistible opportunity came along. Rahul and his team received an offer from BlockTower Capital, a prominent player in the crypto investment space, to buy Gamma Point Capital. In May 2021, they sold their company for a massive Rs 286 crore (USD 35 million). Reflecting on this decision, Rahul and his co-founders realized it would have taken years to achieve the same financial success.

Today, Rahul Rai works as the co-head of Market-Neutral at BlockTower Capital, a multi-strategy crypto hedge fund investing in various crypto assets and blockchain technology. His journey from IIT Bombay dropout to a successful leader in the crypto world shows how following one’s interests and adapting to new opportunities can lead to incredible achievements.
 

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