Bitcoin’s rebound back above $60,000 has refocused investor attention on cryptocurrencies, but according to Varun Datta—Founder and CEO of venture firm Truth Ventures—the price action is not the main development driving the next phase of Web3. Datta argued that the more durable shift is where value is being built: in the infrastructure that enables decentralised technologies to function at scale.
In Datta’s view, the industry is moving into a more mature stage, with long-term returns increasingly tied to compute, blockchain scalability, privacy, and digital settlement layers—areas that often receive less mainstream attention than the tokens that dominate headlines.
Key takeaways
- Price move: Bitcoin has returned above $60,000.
- Catalyst: The rally has renewed market discussion, but Datta says investor focus should shift from token price momentum to Web3 infrastructure.
- Key implication: He expects long-term value creation to concentrate in companies building decentralised networks, privacy frameworks, and settlement infrastructure rather than in the assets drawing the most trading volume.
- Institutional angle: Datta said institutional interest is broadening from spot exposure toward tokenisation, digital asset custody, and decentralised settlement infrastructure.
What drove the focus on infrastructure again
Bitcoin’s recovery has historically attracted the fastest attention from both retail and mainstream media because it is the most recognised digital asset. However, Datta said that tracking the performance of “base-level” coins alone offers limited insight into where the long-term economic value of Web3 is emerging.
According to Datta, much of the most meaningful progress in decentralised systems is being developed quietly—through technical work on networks and services that make decentralised applications more useful, secure, and scalable. He framed this as a pattern seen in prior technology revolutions, where the companies that generated the greatest enduring value were often not the ones with the loudest publicity early on.
The infrastructure playbook, from cloud to Web3
Datta drew comparisons to the early internet era, citing foundational companies that supported broad adoption of digital services. He referenced businesses such as Amazon Web Services for cloud computing, Stripe and PayPal for payments, and Salesforce for enterprise software, arguing that these platforms became indispensable because they laid the groundwork others relied on.
Applying that logic to Web3, Datta said the next generation of the sector will be shaped less by “better tokens” and more by infrastructure for decentralised compute, scalable blockchain networks, privacy frameworks, and digital settlement layers. In his assessment, these components may not deliver headline-grabbing announcements day to day, but they can become the underlying infrastructure of the future digital economy.
Where Truth Ventures is looking in Web3
Truth Ventures’ investment approach, as outlined by Datta, prioritises engineering and infrastructure problems that remain relevant across market cycles. Rather than concentrating only on consumer-facing applications, the firm invests across areas such as decentralised compute, blockchain scalability, decentralised finance, privacy technologies, and decentralised physical infrastructure.
Datta said the firm looks for solutions that improve efficiency, security, scalability, or accessibility in ways that stay valuable regardless of whether Bitcoin trades at higher or lower levels. He also highlighted decentralised artificial intelligence infrastructure as an area gaining attention, pointing to Truth Ventures’ investment in Bittensor—a network intended to decentralise machine learning participation by enabling contributors to take part in AI development and monetise computational resources.
In addition, Datta referenced the firm’s investment in Peaq, which focuses on decentralised physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). He argued that blockchain can extend beyond financial applications by allowing real-world assets, machines, and autonomous devices—ranging from robotics to connected mobility infrastructure—to interact within decentralised digital ecosystems.
Datta also emphasised ongoing technical constraints that he believes must be addressed for mainstream adoption, including scalability, interoperability, privacy, and security. He cited support for projects such as Ternoa for privacy infrastructure and 1inch for a decentralised liquidity aggregation protocol, describing these investments as driven by engineering problem-solving rather than short-term speculation.
Why institutions may be broadening beyond Bitcoin
Datta said the institutional framing of Web3 is changing. He noted that early engagement by traditional financial players focused primarily on Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure, but that more recent interest has expanded toward tokenisation, decentralised settlement, digital asset custody, and the infrastructure that supports those capabilities.
According to Datta, work such as BlackRock’s efforts around tokenised financial products reflects a shift in discussion from digital asset volatility to operational efficiency, transparency, and infrastructure that can improve financial systems. He suggested that as institutions move beyond the question of whether blockchain fits inside finance, they increasingly focus on how blockchain infrastructure can be used to modernise core processes.
What to watch next
With Bitcoin’s price strength drawing attention back to crypto markets, investors may keep watching whether the broader Web3 narrative shifts from token performance toward infrastructure adoption. Next, market participants will likely look for developments that connect tokenisation, custody, and decentralised settlement capabilities to real-world usage, alongside forthcoming updates on crypto-related regulation and broader capital markets conditions that can influence risk appetite.
