The idea of the American Dream has long attracted people to the United States, a place where many moved to study, work and build better lives. For decades, Indians were among those who chased that promise, through student visas and H-1B jobs. But that idea, according to Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase, is beginning to change.
The Indian-origin entrepreneur while speaking on the Think School podcast, explained how global opportunity is changing. His argument is that ambition and growth are no longer centred in the West alone. Increasingly, they are moving toward Asia, especially India.
He explained why exactly the idea of ‘American Dream’ is moving towards the east and why the next century belongs to Asian giants like India and China. This is not a distant prediction for Srinivasan, but something already underway.
Bangalore vs Silicon Valley
One of his most talked-about point is a direct comparison between India’s tech hub and America’s innovation capital. For years, Silicon Valley represented the peak of opportunity. Srinivasan suggested that perception is changing now.
“I’d rather live in Bangalore than SF because it’s safer right, there’s less crazy people, there’s no homeless crack addicts and meth addicts on the street and the society broadly is on the rise,” he said on the podcast.
It is a sharp reversal of what many once believed. Bengaluru, long seen as an emerging tech city, is now being described as safer and more upward-moving. The comparison between Bengaluru and San Francisco is not just in infrastructure or jobs, but also in how people perceive quality of life and future prospects.
The strength of a global Indian network
Srinivasan placed a lot of weight on the success of Indians across the world. For him, India’s rise is not limited to what is happening within the country, but also includes the influence of its global community. He said, “I’m moderately bullish on India and extremely bullish on Indians.” He framed this as a structural advantage that few countries have.
“China is a state but India is a network right? The Indian diaspora is like a 10…it’s doing so so so well unmatched really right now,” he explained on the podcast.
In his view, Indians who moved abroad in search of better opportunities have already demonstrated their ability to compete globally. Now, as India grows, that same diaspora becomes a powerful extension of the country’s influence which is connecting markets, ideas and capital across borders.
Unlike the rapid rise often associated with global powers, India’s growth, Srinivasan said, has been gradual almost easy to overlook.
He explained, “What I realised is Indians in India because it happens gradually they often took it for granted…every day is better than the last in general.”
This steady change in technology, infrastructure and everyday life has slowly reshaped the country. It may not always feel dramatic, but it has created a foundation where staying back is no longer seen as settling. Taken together, his remarks challenge a deeply rooted belief that success requires moving West. Instead, he points to a world where opportunity is more spread out, and where India is becoming a central hub in that new map.
The American Dream, in this telling, is not disappearing. It is simply changing location and for many, it may now be closer to home than ever before.