DePIN leader MOBILE hits a new high, what other conceptual projects are worth paying attention to?
The popularity of the DePIN track continues to rise.Author: flowie, ChainCather
The popularity of the DePIN track continues to rise. The popular concept coin in the DePIN sector, MOBILE, once reached $0.0077, setting a new all-time high, with an increase of nearly 800% in the past 7 days.
In addition to MOBILE, other DePIN concept coins such as DIMO, NODL, WiFi, HOPR, STORJ, IOTX, and HNT have also seen increases of over 60% in the past week. Over the past week, DePIN can be said to be the only narrative that can rival inscriptions in terms of popularity.
Currently, CoinGecko lists a total of 52 issued projects in the DePIN sector, with a total market capitalization of $12.2 billion, ranking 22nd among various sectors, surpassing P2E, oracle, storage, AMM, AI, and others. The crypto data platform RootData has recorded nearly 60 key projects, both issued and unissued.
Why has DePIN suddenly become popular? Besides the most volatile and hottest MOBILE, what other concept projects are worth paying attention to?
Why is DePIN popular again?
First of all, DePIN is not a new narrative. DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) refers to decentralized physical infrastructure, which is somewhat similar to the popular RWA this year. Similar concepts and projects emerged a few years ago but were not categorized into a clearer narrative and promoted as a hot topic.
If we trace the formation of the DePIN concept, it may be attributed to a survey released by Messari at the end of 2022, when Messari sought a formal title for "Web3 Physical Infrastructure." DePIN was ultimately selected in the competition among physical proof of work (PoPw), token incentives for physical networks (TIPIN), EdgeFi, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks.
In January 2023, Messari also published a research report on the DePIN sector. Messari stated that the DePIN network is a blockchain-based system that coordinates multiple individual units' physical hardware facilities in a permissionless, trustless, and programmable manner through token incentives.
Moreover, Messari estimates that the total market capitalization of DePIN could exceed $22 trillion in the future, potentially reaching $35 trillion by 2028. The DePIN concept covers a wide range. Messari categorizes DePIN into four main categories: server (cloud) networks; wireless networks; sensor networks; and energy networks. Some sub-sectors, such as decentralized storage, decentralized computing power, decentralized IoT, decentralized geographic information collection, and decentralized communication networks, are included. Familiar decentralized storage platforms like Filecoin and Arweave, as well as the decentralized unlimited hotspot network Helium, belong to this sector.
Looking back at the discussions about DePIN this year, in addition to the promotion by the crypto research platform Messari, crypto institutions represented by Wanxiang Blockchain, Multicoin, and HashKey Capital, as well as the Solana hackathon, have also mentioned their attention and layout regarding DePIN. However, the focus was mainly on memes and Bitcoin inscriptions, with insufficient concentrated attention on DePIN, or rather, there were many doubts about its "new wine in old bottles." However, during the Hong Kong FinTech Week in November, the attention on DePIN heated up.
Under a series of preparations, why has the DePIN concept coin recently entered a period of general rise? Simply put, it is mainly because the DePIN concept projects on Solana have ignited the entire DePIN track. According to recent analysis by CoinEx, the hot Solana ecosystem mainly focuses on DeFi, Memecoin, and DePIN.
It can also be said that the leading and hottest concept projects in this round of DePIN are mainly concentrated in the Solana ecosystem. Currently, the three most popular DePIN projects on Coingecko are all Solana ecosystem projects. For example, Helium and its sub-project Helium Mobile, as well as Helium HOT, have shown outstanding growth, especially Helium Mobile, which saw an increase of nearly 1000% in the past 7 days.
Furthermore, the heated market requires suitable speculative targets. DePIN has already undergone more than half a year of market education and is gradually moving towards implementation, with a relatively rich range of investment targets. Compared to derivatives, NFTs, and other concepts, the narrative prospects are broader.
Who is the leader of DePIN? A look at the hottest DePIN concept coins
The Messari report indicates that the total potential market size of the DePIN sector is estimated to be around $22 trillion, potentially reaching $35 trillion by 2028. Currently, the total market capitalization of DePIN is only $12.2 billion, leaving significant room for growth.
From the current market capitalization rankings, the top ten DePIN concept projects are Filecoin, Render, Helium, Theta Network, Arweave, Helium Mobile, Akash Network, IoTeX, Siacoin, and Holo. The market capitalization of the top four projects exceeds $1 billion.
Among them, storage projects like Filecoin, ArweaveEco, and Storj; computing projects like Akash Network and Render; as well as network projects like Helium are well-known established projects.
The top ten DePIN concept projects with the largest increase in the past week
In terms of the increase over the past 7 days, among DePIN concept projects with a market capitalization of over ten million dollars, the hottest ones include Helium Mobile, DIMO, Nodle Network, WiFi Map, HOPR, Helium IOT, Helium, IoTex, Storj, and Shadow Token. Among them, Helium Mobile's 7-day increase surpassed 1000%, while the others all exceeded 40%.
Among these ten DePIN concept projects with the largest increase, those with a market capitalization of over one hundred million dollars include Helium, Helium Mobile, Storj, IoTeX, and DIMO, while the rest are lower market cap projects in the thousands of dollars.
Helium series: Helium ( HNT ), Helium Mobile (MOBILE), Helium IOT ( IOT )
The Helium series tokens have led the current DePIN boom. Helium is a decentralized wireless hotspot network that provides public, remote wireless coverage for IoT devices supporting LoRaWAN. In April this year, Helium completed its migration from the Solana network.
HNT is the native token of the Helium network, used for mining on the Helium blockchain and rewarding data transmission through the Helium network. There was no pre-mining, and the maximum supply is 223 million. Currently, according to CoinGecko data, HNT has a total market capitalization of $1.244 billion, with a token increase of 66% in the past week.
MOBILE and IOT are two new tokens announced by Helium in June last year. The MOBILE token rewards users who operate 5G nodes and contribute to Helium's latest network. The IOT token allows node operators to earn this token for the LoRaWAN network originally designed for IoT devices (such as sensors and trackers).
In July last year, Helium developer Nova Labs announced a five-year mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with telecom giant T-Mobile, planning to launch commercial mobile smartphone services under the Helium Mobile brand in the first quarter of 2023. In August this year, Helium Mobile launched a $5 unlimited calling, texting, and mobile data plan in Miami for the first time. Recently, on December 6, Helium Mobile officially launched the service nationwide, with a monthly fee of only $20.
Currently, MOBILE has a market capitalization of nearly $600 million, with a token price increase of over 2800% in the past month. In comparison to HNT and MOBILE, the reward token IOT of the Helium IOT network has a market capitalization of only over $59 million, but the token has increased by over 69% in the past week.
DIMO ( DIMO )
DIMO is an automotive IoT platform in the Polygon ecosystem, focusing on the Drive to Earn concept, allowing drivers to share vehicle data streams and earn DIMO tokens by contributing to the ecosystem.
In September 2022, DIMO raised $9 million in investments from CoinFund, [Variant Fund](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Variant Fund?k=MTE1), and [Slow Ventures](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Slow Ventures?k=MTI3), and launched its mainnet in December 2022.
Currently, DIMO has a total market capitalization of $80 million, with a token price increase of 85% in the past week. DIMO has also been listed on Coinbase.
Recommended reading: “Interpreting DIMO: Targeting a Trillion-Dollar Market, Reshaping Automotive Data Monetization Ecosystem with DePin”
Nodle Network (NODL)
Nodle Network, established in 2017, is a decentralized wireless network in the Polkadot ecosystem, providing low-range wireless access to IoT devices. Through Nodle, network contributors can share their communication resources for network connectivity. These contributors become part of a shared, interoperable "citizen network" and are incentivized to expand the network through connectivity proof algorithms. In simple terms, Nodle Network is a decentralized network composed of millions of smartphones and other hardware devices. By downloading the application, you become a "node," participate in the network, and receive rewards.
Nodle Network has a circulating market capitalization of only around $15.7 million, making it a low market cap but high token price increase DePIN concept project. Its token NODL has increased over 40% in the past 24 hours.
WiFi Map ( WIFI )
WiFi Map is a WiFi network application that allows users to connect to millions of WiFi hotspots in over 200 countries, as well as access eSIM data, offline maps, and VPN protection in over 70 countries to ensure a secure and reliable online experience. Users who contribute valuable WiFi hotspots to the platform can earn $WIFI token rewards.
DWF Labs participated in investing in WiFi Map in February 2023. WiFi Map's circulating market capitalization has just surpassed $10 million, with an increase of 78% in the past week.
Recommended reading: “Understanding WiFi Map in One Article”
HOPR* (HOPR)*
HOPR, established in 2019, is a protocol that allows users to run peer-to-peer privacy network nodes, enabling data transmission over the network without exposing metadata (metadata can be described as the objects sending and receiving data, the time of data transmission, the amount of data sent, the addresses of data sent, etc.). HOPR ensures the privacy of both the sender and receiver's identities while guaranteeing the encryption of the information content.
Although HOPR has seen a price increase of 90% in the past 7 days, it has dropped by 30% in the past 24 hours. HOPR currently has a circulating market capitalization of nearly $36 million, making it a low market cap but prominent performer in DePIN.
IoTeX (IOTX)
IoTeX, established in 2017, is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain focused on providing secure interactions between humans and machines, aimed at supporting the Internet of Trusted Things. By creating a trusted IoT platform, IoTeX powers decentralized networks for dapps (Cyclone, Mimo), smart devices (UCam, Pebble), services (ioay, ioTube), and digital assets. IoTeX launched its mainnet in 2020. The number of devices activated on the IoTeX chain has reached 22,846, distributed across more than 70 countries.
The IoTeX team has backgrounds from internet giants like Uber and Facebook. Its co-founder and CEO, Raullen Chai, previously served as the head of crypto R&D at Uber and as the security engineering lead at Google. Co-founder Qevan Guo was a research scientist and engineering manager at Facebook, while another co-founder, Jing Sun, has an investment background and was a partner at Starry Capital.
In terms of financing, IoTeX has announced four rounds of funding, raising over $35 million in total. Notable investment institutions such as Samsung Next, Jump Capital, Draper Dragon, HashKey Capital, and IOSG Ventures have participated in IoTeX's investments.
From the discussions in the IoTeX community, it is quite active and keeps up with hot topics like inscriptions. Currently, IoTeX has a circulating market capitalization of around $400 million, with a token price increase of 42% in the past week.
Storj (STORJ)
Storj, established in 2017, is a distributed cloud storage protocol based on Ethereum. Storj aims to build a decentralized cloud storage platform that is censorship-resistant, surveillance-free, and always available. By utilizing idle hard drives and bandwidth, data can be negotiated, transmitted, verified for integrity and availability, retrieved, and stored between any nodes on a P2P network.
Storj currently has a circulating market capitalization of $150 million, with a token price increase of 60% in the past 7 days.
Recommended reading: “Decentralized Storage Report: What Pain Points Do Projects Like Filecoin, Arweave, and Storj Solve?”
Shadow Token (SHDW)
Shadow is a stable, high-performance cloud platform developed by GenesysGo, supported by a decentralized network of operators. Shadow Drive is a decentralized, high-performance, and scalable object storage designed for Web3 builders. Shadow's Solana RPC is built on a network of independent operators, truly decentralizing the backend API by directly paying computing fees to ecosystem operators.
Currently, Shadow's market capitalization is nearly $200 million, with a token price increase of over 80% in the past week. However, the price has slightly retreated in the past 24 hours, with a decrease of 11%.
Other DePIN concept projects with high discussion heat
Hivemapper (**** *HONEY* *)*
Hivemapper is a decentralized mapping IoT platform in the Solana ecosystem, aiming to build a decentralized map using data from people's dashcams. Users who provide driving data and road images can earn its native token HONEY as a reward. Hivemapper can also be considered a Drive to Earn concept project.
Like Helium, Hivemapper is also one of the hottest DePIN concept projects in Solana. Hivemapper currently has a circulating market capitalization of only over $61 million, with a token price increase of 1032.7% in the past month. However, the increase has slightly retreated in the past 7 days.
Hivemapper completed a $18 million financing led by Multicoin Capital in 2022.
Recommended reading: “Multicoin Capital: Why We Invested in the Decentralized Mapping Project Hivemapper from the Theory of 'Physical Proof of Work'”
Render Network (RNDR)
Render Network, established in 2016, is a decentralized 3D rendering solution provider. Creators submit rendering tasks, and node operators provide idle GPU resources to execute these tasks. Render Network's parent company, OTOY, has partnered with giants like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and HBO.
In November this year, Render Network announced its launch on Solana and introduced a new SPL token, RENDER. Render also offers a reward program of 1.14 million RNDR tokens for new node operators joining through io.net and computing clients.
It is reported that Render Network raised $30 million in December 2021 from [Multicoin Capital](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Multicoin Capital?k=MTU0), Alameda Research, Solana Ventures, and others. Currently, Render Network has a circulating market capitalization of $1.485 billion, second only to Filecoin.
Render Network's increase over the past week is not remarkable, but it has risen by 26% over the past month.
Recommended reading: “Multicoin Capital: Why We Led the Investment in Render Network?”
Sentinel (DVPN)
Sentinel, established in 2017, is a global network composed of autonomous dVPN applications in the Cosmos ecosystem, enabling private and censorship-resistant internet access. Sentinel aims to create a thriving ecosystem of autonomous dVPN organizations, providing zero entry barriers for users and providers, and affordable privacy and free internet access for everyone on Earth.
Sentinel raised $3.5 million in March 2021 from investments by [Atka Capital](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Atka Capital?k=NTQy), [Exnetwork Capital](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Exnetwork Capital?k=NzI2), Woodstock, and launched its mainnet in March 2021.
Currently, Sentinel has a circulating market capitalization of over $14 million, with a token price increase of 46% in the past week, but the price has retreated in the past 24 hours, with a decrease of 20%.
In addition, according to TrendX Research Institute, there are other DePIN concept projects worth paying attention to, such as Meson Network, Thala, Zephyr Protocol, TurtSat, MultiBit, and Liquidium.
Recommended reading: “TrendX Research Institute Project Selection | DePIN Narrative Worth Attention”
The DePIN primary market heat is also unfolding
The heat in the DePIN secondary market is also boosting the DePIN primary market. On December 14, the decentralized physical network Hivello announced the completion of a $1 million pre-seed round of financing, with participation from NGC Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, and others. It is reported that Hivello aims to enable users to install applications on physical devices such as computers, routers, modems, and storage nodes.
On November 30, the decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) provider Grove (formerly Pocket Network) announced that it had raised $7.9 million from Fidelity's Avon Ventures, Placeholder Capital, and Druid Ventures.
In addition, the venture capital firm Future Money Group recently launched a $5 million DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) accelerator program in collaboration with the IoTeX Foundation, aimed at nurturing innovative Web3 startups in the fields of DePIN, artificial intelligence, and unlocking real-world value. The IoTeX Foundation has previously provided nearly a million dollars in development funding to 15 DePIN-related projects.
Before the recent heat in the DePIN secondary market, Wanxiang Blockchain and Hashkey jointly initiated the Web3.0 innovation incubation platform Future3 Campus this year, launching a $50 million seed fund for Web3.0 project incubation, with a focus on DePIN. In September this year, the Solana Hyperdrive hackathon also covered the DePIN track.
Currently, DePIN attempts to connect the digital world and the real world, constructing a narrative for new infrastructure. Multiple projects have already released application products, but there is still a long way to go before large-scale adoption.
