Avichal Garg projects Bitcoin could reach $5-10 million, calling the forecast "not that crazy" as venture capital reframes crypto as infrastructure for autonomous AI systems rather than speculative assets.
Gate Ventures articulates crypto's role as settlement infrastructure for autonomous agents, while former OpenAI executives Peter Deng at Felicis, Aliisa Rosenthal, and Jeff Arnold enter the investment space backing AI-crypto convergence. This marks a shift from consumer applications to institutional settlement layers.
Garg argues Bitcoin is superior to gold based on fungibility, ease of transfer, divisibility, liquidity, and resistance to government seizure. He positions Ethereum earlier in its adoption curve than Bitcoin, comparable to Bitcoin in 2019, with many institutions yet to understand it.
The J. Paul Getty Trust's $9.5 billion endowment now allocates to crypto infrastructure alongside traditional venture firms Khosla Ventures and Felicis. Cendana Capital, managing $3 billion in assets, positions its fund-of-funds strategy around this convergence thesis.
The infrastructure narrative centers on autonomous systems requiring 24/7 settlement rails that traditional banking cannot provide. AI agents conducting cross-border transactions, autonomous robotaxi fleets managing payments, and decentralized compute networks need programmable money operating outside business hours and national borders.
Uber Technologies plans commercial autonomous robotaxi service for late 2026 in the Bay Area, illustrating the timeline for autonomous systems requiring crypto settlement infrastructure. These systems cannot wait for bank clearing times or navigate multiple national payment systems.
The venture thesis positions crypto protocols as the settlement layer enabling autonomous economic activity, with AI agents as the first major non-human participants in financial markets requiring always-on, programmable infrastructure.