In January 2011, an underground market called Silk Road was opened on the Tor browser (an encrypted software that ensures anonymity of its users). Silk Road sold drugs and other illicit goods and services—and accepted payment only in bitcoins. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation shut the site in 2013, by which time Silk Road had made more than 9.5 billion bitcoins, worth a little more than $1 billion (at that year’s exchange rate). Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency, has always been viewed with more than a hint of suspicion, since getting this currency is an esoteric task. Unlike digital wallets, which are based on real currency, virtual currencies are regulated only by users and not by a central bank. It’s all very obscure and geeky, but here’s the thing. Blockchain, the technology that powers bitcoins, is a technology that banks worldwide are moving towards. It’s popular enough that San Francisco-based Blockchain Capital only invests in businesses based on blockchain. The managing partner of Blockchain Capital, and chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, Brock Pierce, was in India recently to hunt for potential unicorns. In a freewheeling interview, he talks of his past as a child actor (he acted in The Mighty Ducks and The First Kid), bitcoins, blockchain, and much more. Edited excerpts: