The Rise of Testnets: A New Investment Class in Computing Power

The demand for computing power continues to soar as global cloud computing markets reach unprecedented levels, estimated at $700 billion in 2024 and projected to surpass $1.55 trillion by 2030. This trend is driving a surge in decentralized infrastructure for Web3 applications and blockchain networks. Testnets—secure environments for testing new protocols, smart contracts, and systems—are experiencing significant growth due to the increasing need for robust scalability. This demand fuels the investment market for specialized data centers and server capacity. 1040 Capital exemplifies this trend, managing over 50,000 servers across Europe and CIS, showcasing a massive scale in testnet infrastructure investment.