Rario sunset its cricket NFT product and bet on a new platform without the cards

A cricket-focused NFT startup: digital player cards, video moments and cricket artefacts, plus the D3 cricket strategy game co-developed with Dream Sports.

$120 million raised in 2022 (Alpha Wave Global, Animoca Brands, Presight Capital, Dream11; Sachin Tendulkar also an investor).

Founded by Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot in 2021 to let cricket fans own digital collectibles like player cards and video moments.

India's 30% tax on virtual digital asset income, imposed in 2022, hit the NFT ecosystem hard; costly partnership deals with cricket boards and a Prevention of Money Laundering Act complaint from the Consumer Online Foundation compounded the pressure. In September 2023, investors including Dream11 pushed CEO Wadhwa and CTO Bhanot out to take control. The new management sunset the current product effective 29 January 2024 — the India–England Test was the last game on D3 — with cash balances withdrawable until 31 March 2024.

The current product shut on 29 January 2024; a new cricket-gaming platform was promised for March 2024, with existing cards unusable and users offered perks instead.

India's 30% tax on virtual digital asset income landed in 2022 and cratered NFT demand at Rario's peak.

Costly partnership deals with cricket boards and tournament organisers raised the burn as collectibles collapsed.

A consumer-rights body alleged PMLA violations, adding regulatory pressure to the market downturn.

The investor-installed management chose a clean break — new platform, no card carryover, perks for loyal users.

When regulation and the market turn against a speculative-asset business, investors take control and the pivot usually strands the original users' assets.

As of the January 2024 report, the India–England Test was set as D3's last hosted game, cash balances remained withdrawable until 31 March, and the new platform was promised for March — unproven at the time of writing.