Inventory of 6 noteworthy crypto projects in the DePIN track

Preface:

During the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival in April 2024, UWEB, in collaboration with JDI Global, officially released the highly anticipated "2024 DePIN Development Report." The report indicates that the total market size of industries related to DePIN has exceeded $5 trillion and is expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2028.

DePIN, or Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network, combines blockchain technology with physical infrastructure, decentralizing various resources in the physical world (such as storage space, computing power, network connections, etc.) and integrating them with the digital world, thus promoting the development and innovation of the digital economy. This concept reveals an imaginative application scenario: the infrastructure in our daily lives, such as communication base stations, electric vehicle charging stations, photovoltaic panels, billboards, and the data storage and computing devices behind internet operations, will no longer be controlled by centralized entities and institutions but will be decentralized into equally sized units, held by individuals or large-scale miners. These physical infrastructures are highly standardized and scalable, forming a comprehensive coverage network.

This article will explore the noteworthy DePIN track crypto projects from the perspectives of computing power and network.

1. Decentralized Computing Power

Render:

Introduction:

Render Network is a decentralized GPU rendering solution provider aimed at connecting users who wish to execute rendering jobs with individuals who have idle GPUs to process the rendering. Owners can connect their GPUs to the rendering network to receive and complete rendering jobs using OctaneRender. Users send RENDER to individuals performing the rendering work, while OTOY receives a small portion of RENDER to facilitate transactions and operate the rendering network.

Team and Funding:

Jules Urbach is the founder of Render. Jules set the strategic vision for OTOY and is the chief architect of the company's technology roadmap. With over 25 years of industry experience, he is widely regarded as a pioneer in computer graphics, streaming, and 3D rendering. He created his first game at the age of 18 and went on to produce the first 3D video game platform on the web, licensing the software to Macromedia, Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Microsoft, Hasbro, and AT&T.

Render Network has raised over $47 million through public offerings and funding rounds. Investors include Multicoin Capital, Solana Ventures, and Sfermion.

Infrastructure:

Render Network consists of three main layers:

Off-chain rendering network: Includes creators, node operators, rendering network, and rendering application layer providers.

Blockchain layer: Handles payments and escrow contracts, ensuring transaction security and transparency, using RENDER tokens for payments.

Interaction between node operators and creators: A distributed network model (OctaneBench) based on server core network infrastructure arbitration, used to measure GPU rendering speed and ensure consistent performance pricing.

Token Situation:

RENDER currently has a market cap of $2.5 billion, FDV of $3.5 billion, a maximum supply of 6.4 billion, and a current circulation rate of 61.50%. Major trading markets include Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Kraken, gate.io, KuCoin, and other mainstream exchanges.

Source: CoinMarketCap

On November 2, 2023, Render Network successfully completed its upgrade to Solana, officially migrating from the Polygon ecosystem to the Solana ecosystem. According to Render's emission plan, a total of 6.84 million RENDER tokens will be emitted annually, which will be distributed to various participants, including node operators, liquidity providers, creators, computing nodes, and Sol token upgrade rewards. This distribution is expected to ensure a balanced allocation of tokens within the RENDER ecosystem. It is particularly noteworthy that according to the emission plan, the annual inflation rate of Render tokens will be maintained at 1.8%.

Source: Render Network Foundation

The RENDER token has fully adopted the BME (Burn Mint Equilibrium) model, in which the Render token is no longer just a medium of exchange but has more functionalities. Specifically, 95% of the Render paid by users will be burned, while the remaining 5% will be donated to the Render Foundation. In addition to the burn mechanism, the new model also introduces a points system that allows service providers to earn points based on the network services they provide and receive Render emission rewards based on their points ratio. This incentive mechanism is expected to attract more computing resource providers and rendering nodes to join the Render network, thereby improving the network's availability and performance. Therefore, the introduction of the burn mechanism and points conversion will significantly reduce the circulation of Render, and under certain load conditions of network utilization, Render can become a de facto deflationary mechanism.

Thus, the price increase of RENDER is highly correlated with the BME mechanism. Under the BME model, when the demand for rendering tasks is insufficient, operators can earn more revenue than before, while when the total task price corresponding to rendering task demand exceeds the total released Render rewards, miners will earn less than under the original model (burned tokens > newly minted tokens), and RENDER tokens will also enter a deflationary state.

On July 26, 2024, Render (RNDR) completed the token swap and brand upgrade, changing the token name to Render (RENDER). This token upgrade did not result in any substantial changes to Render, only increasing the recognition of the token name, aligning it with the interfaces of the Render official website, foundation, and OctaneBench.

Aethir:

Introduction:

Aethir is a distributed cloud computing infrastructure. It aggregates enterprise-grade GPU chips into a global network to increase the supply of on-demand cloud computing resources for AI, gaming, and virtualization computing fields. Enterprise GPU owners can become their own cloud computing providers, unlocking the revenue potential of underutilized GPU chips. End users can obtain the affordable on-demand computing resources they need to support their AI training and inference workloads, real-time rendering applications, and other virtualization computing operations.

Team and Funding:

Aethir is led by an experienced and accomplished team with a strong track record in technology and business. Its CEO, Mark Rydon, has held significant positions at NOTA Platform, Flux Capital, Gaas LTD, Kulture Athletics, Inc., and Bechtel Corporation. CBO Daniel has served at Mythos Venture Partners (GP), IVC (Venture Partner), YGG SEA (CIO), Riot Games (International Publishing Manager), and Riot Games China (Operations Manager).

As of now, Aethir has successfully raised a total of $11.53 million through initial DEX offerings (IDO) and other funding rounds. The public offering raised $2.53 million, while the Pre-A round financing totaled $9 million, accounting for 78% of the total funding. This financing values Aethir at up to $150 million.

Infrastructure:

Aethir's architecture is also its biggest highlight, consisting of three core roles: Container, Indexer, and Checker, with the transaction process relying on Arbitrum to provide decentralized cloud rendering services. This design emphasizes real-time responsiveness and efficient scheduling while enhancing network security and reliability through a distributed system.

Container: Provides real-time remote rendering services, executing and rendering applications, such as real-time rendering for game visuals. Users can participate in the Container by staking $ATH.

Indexer: An efficient scheduling system that connects users to the most suitable containers, optimizing the matching of resource needs, latency, and service costs.

Checker: Evaluates container performance and service quality, ensuring the reliability and efficiency of the network, imposing appropriate penalties through random checks.

Source: Aethir.com

Token Situation:

ATH currently has a market cap of $2.8 billion, FDV of $3 billion, a maximum supply of 42 billion, and a current circulation rate of 9.66%. Major trading markets include OKX, Bybit, HTX, gate.io, KuCoin, and other mainstream exchanges.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Aethir chooses to allocate a significant portion of its total token supply (TTS) for rewards, which is a strategic move to strengthen its ecosystem.

Rendering Proof of Work: Provides token incentives to node operators as additional rewards for completing computing tasks within the ecosystem. This encourages supply-side entities to join Aethir's ecosystem and provide valuable processing and computing work. Rendering Proof of Work is only distributed to containers after completing computing tasks.

Capacity Proof: Computing providers earn rendering capacity proof by demonstrating their readiness to provide computing services. Even without active work, providers will receive rewards to incentivize joining the ecosystem, thus reducing participation risks.

Burn Mechanism: The platform charges a 20% service fee and a 5% token reward, which are burned proportionally.

io.net:

Introduction:

io.net is launching a decentralized GPU network on Solana, serving as a coordination layer between individuals and entities with large amounts of idle computing resources and those needing processing power. io.net's unique selling point is that it does not compete directly with other DePINs in the market but aggregates GPUs from various sources (including data centers, miners, and other DePINs like Render Network and Filecoin) while utilizing its proprietary DePIN—Internet-of-GPUs (IoG)—to coordinate operations and align incentives for market participants. io.net customers can customize their workload clusters on IO Cloud by selecting processor types, locations, communication speeds, compliance, and service times. Conversely, anyone with a supported GPU model (12 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) can participate as an IO Worker, lending their idle computing resources to the network. While service payments are currently settled in fiat and USDC, the network will soon support payments in the native $IO token. The price of resources is determined by supply and demand, as well as various GPU specifications and configuration algorithms. io.net's ultimate goal is to become the preferred GPU market by providing lower costs and higher service quality than modern cloud service providers.

Team and Funding:

Ahmad Shadid, the founder and CEO of io.net, has extensive experience in the field of data science. COO Tory Green has over 20 years of experience in venture capital and executive roles. CSO & CMO Garrison Y. was the head of Growth & Strategy at Ava Labs, a leading developer on the Avalanche blockchain, before joining IO. Angela Yi, a member of the team, graduated from Harvard.

io.net secured $30 million in Series A funding on March 5 this year, with a valuation of $1 billion. The leading institution is Hack VC, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Solana Ventures, and OKX Ventures.

Infrastructure:

io.net combines Mesh VPN and reverse tunneling technology to build an efficient, secure, low-latency distributed computing network. Mesh VPN provides a robust network infrastructure, ensuring fast and reliable communication between nodes; while reverse tunneling simplifies network configuration, enhancing the security and convenience of remote resource access.

Mesh VPN Network: A decentralized network structure that allows direct connections between nodes, providing low latency, high redundancy, and optimized load distribution, suitable for complex network environments.

Reverse Tunneling Technology: Allows engineers to securely access and manage IO Workers without complex network configurations, establishing connections through intermediary servers to facilitate secure data transmission.

Token Situation:

IO currently has a market cap of $2.8 billion, FDV of $2.3 billion, a maximum supply of 8 billion, and a current circulation rate of 11.88%. Major trading markets include Binance, Bybit, HTX, gate.io, KuCoin, and other mainstream exchanges.

Source: CoinMarketCap

io.net executes the buyback and burn of $IO tokens according to a fixed preset program, with the specific buyback and burn quantity depending on the $IO price at the time of execution. The funds used for buying back $IO come from the operational revenue of IOG (The Internet of GPUs), collecting a 0.25% order reservation fee from both computing power buyers and providers in IOG, as well as a 2% handling fee for purchasing computing power with $USDC.

Section Summary:

| | Render | Aethir | io.net | |-------------------|------------|------------------|------------------| | GPU Ownership | Over 1000 | Over 40000 | Over 22000 | | Main Customer Base | 3D Artists | AI/ML Engineers, AI/ML Enterprises | AI/ML Engineers, AI/ML Enterprises | | Number of A100S/H100S | 0 | 4000 | Over 2000 | | Average Cost of A100S | - | $0.33 | $0.76 | | Average Cost of H100S | - | $1.19 | $1.19 |

Source: layerggofficial

According to Layergg's data statistics, this table compares Render, Aethir, and io.net in terms of GPU ownership, main customer base, and the number and cost of A100S/H100S. Aethir has the most GPUs and A100S at the lowest cost, primarily serving AI/ML engineers and enterprises. io.net follows, also mainly serving the AI/ML field. Render has fewer GPUs, with its main customers being 3D artists, and it does not have A100S or H100S devices. Currently, Aethir has a significant advantage in terms of equipment foundation and price cost for companies and individuals needing decentralized computing power.

Furthermore, after comparing the infrastructures of IO.net, Aethir, and Render Network, Aethir performs best in customer protection and business delivery. Its architectural design builds efficient and reliable cloud rendering services through Container, Indexer, and Checker, ensuring system scalability and efficiency. Aethir's customer protection mechanism and flexible service model meet diverse needs, providing more advantages in flexibility and adaptability compared to io.net and Render Network.

Render's shortcomings are, first, that the demand side is not mainstream; the service group for video rendering is primarily large AAA game production companies, which have a significant gap in demand compared to AI companies or individuals. Second, due to its infrastructure, it is mainly used for offline rendering tasks, so it cannot handle real-time rendering tasks, which is a limitation.

2. Decentralized Network

THETA:

Introduction:

Theta Network is the next-generation blockchain centered around media and entertainment. The Theta infrastructure enables existing video and media platforms to increase revenue, reduce content delivery CDN costs, while rewarding end users who share storage or bandwidth on any PC, mobile device, smart TV, or IoT device. Theta supports Turing-complete smart contracts and is fully compatible with Ethereum.

Team and Funding:

Mitch Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Theta Labs and THETA.tv. In 2010, Mr. Liu co-founded Gameview Studios, known for its Tap Fish mobile game series, which has nearly 100 million downloads. The company was acquired by Japan's leading mobile gaming company DeNA within six months of launch. Prior to this, he co-founded Tapjoy, a pioneer in reward-based social and mobile video advertising, growing the company's revenue to $10 billion. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jieyi Long is the co-founder/CTO of Theta Labs. He graduated from Peking University and Northwestern University in the United States.

Theta Network has completed two rounds of financing, the first round in December 2017 raised $20 million, with investors including DHVC, [gumi Cryptos Capital](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/gumi Cryptos Capital?k=NTY5), LinkVC, [DCM Ventures](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/DCM Ventures?k=MTA3NjU=), [Sparkland Capital](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Investors/detail/Sparkland Capital?k=MTE3NDA=) and other large institutions. The amount of the second round of financing has not been disclosed, but it has a series of investors including Samsung, DHVC, IBC, and Sony Innovation Fund.

Token Information:

THETA currently has a market cap of $1.5 billion, FDV of $1.5 billion, a maximum supply of 1 billion, and current circulation of 100%. Major trading markets include Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Bybit, HTX, KuCoin, and other mainstream exchanges.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Theta Network innovatively applies blockchain technology to video transmission, encouraging users to share their unused bandwidth and computing resources to support the distribution of video content. Users can earn tokens by sharing resources for transaction fees, video streaming services, and other uses. This mechanism incentivizes more users to participate in the network, enhancing the network's bandwidth and caching capabilities, thus improving video transmission quality and reducing costs.

Helium:

Introduction:

Helium is a decentralized wireless hotspot network that provides public, remote wireless coverage for IoT devices supporting LoRaWAN. Hotspots generate and are compensated by Helium's native cryptocurrency HNT. Helium primarily connects a network of small miners (which consume no power, only network) to ultimately build an IoT network.

Team and Funding:

Abhay Kumar is the CEO of Helium Foundation, previously the Chief Product Officer at Nova Labs and an engineer at Microsoft. He graduated from New York University. Amir Haleem is the founder of Helium and CEO of Helium Mobile, previously co-founder and CTO of Diversion.

In 2019, Helium (HNT) raised $15 million in Series C funding with participation from Union Square Ventures and Multicoin Capital. In August 2021, Helium (HNT) announced it had completed $111 million in funding through token sales, led by a16z, with participation from Ribbit Capital, 10T, Alameda Research, and Multicoin Capital. On February 19, 2024, Helium (HNT) completed a $200 million Series D funding round at a valuation of $1.2 billion, with participation from Tiger Global and FTX Ventures.

Highlights:

The Helium community is discussing a new proposal, HIP 128, which suggests creating an ENERGY subnet that rewards users for participating in the energy market through solar power generation and battery storage. This subnet will support the integration and rewards of distributed energy resources (DERs), allowing residential users to contribute to grid stability and receive rewards. Key advantages include dual mining, increased network activity and data credit consumption, entry into the renewable energy sector, and promotion of green energy practices.

Token Information:

Helium currently has a market cap of $850 million, FDV of $850 million. Major trading markets include Binance, Coinbase, OKX, gate.io, and other mainstream exchanges.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Supply Side: Operators wishing to join the network and provide cellular coverage can purchase FreedomFi gateway hardware and receive MOBILE Tokens in return.

Demand Side: Data consumers pay usage fees using data points. As more data is transmitted and more data points are consumed, sub-networks (e.g., IoT networks) will earn more HNT Tokens, thus rewarding and incentivizing activity.

ROAM:

Introduction:

Roam is a decentralized global WiFi network that provides enterprise-level WiFi roaming to the general public, ensuring uninterrupted, low-cost access to Web3 and the Metaverse, along with enhanced network security and an excellent overall experience.

Team and Funding:

Jeffrey Manner is the co-founder and business lead of MetaBlox, previously the strategic partnerships lead at Consensus Core, and graduated from Victoria University.

Roam has announced total funding of $7 million, with investors including Collab+Currency (seed round lead), Synergis Capital (seed round lead), Anagram (strategic round lead), Volt Capital (strategic round lead), Comma3 Ventures, IoTeX, Awesome People Ventures, Crowdcreate, Future Life, Slope, Stratified Capital, JDI Global, ZC Capital, Future3 Campus, ECMC Group, SNZ Holding, DePIN Labs, etc. Additionally, Samsung Next has made an undisclosed investment this year.

Highlights:

Using blockchain economic incentives to create a decentralized WiFi roaming network, sharing private and public WiFi nodes into the WiFi network, thus reducing reliance on centralized infrastructure, lowering maintenance and operational costs, and simplifying the network expansion and management process through automation and intelligent network management. This not only provides more revenue opportunities for node owners but also offers users more convenient and affordable network services.

Roam's WiFi service is currently free for ordinary users, attracting users with WiFi needs, promoting project self-propagation, and driving traffic to Web3.

Economic Model:

Network Roles:

1. WiFi Miners:

• Holders of Roam Rainier MAX60 miner routers, acting as blockchain nodes.

• When Roam users enter the miner's range, miners will automatically verify DID and establish WiFi connections with other nodes.

• Using the Proof-of-Service mining algorithm, miners validate the network services provided and successful miners receive token rewards.

1. Validators:

• Use their devices to check whether miners' devices are online and confirm service quality.

• Report service quality to the network, ensuring the reliability and high-quality service of the network.

1. Builders:

• Participate in the infrastructure construction and maintenance of the network, ensuring its continuous development and expansion.

Three Token Model:

1. NFT: Bound to specific miners, supporting the deployment of Roam routers.

• Uses:

• Cloud Mining: Represents router revenue rights, maintained and supported by Roam, with no operational costs, users earn Roam Points rewards.

• Staking: Genesis NFTs can be staked to earn $ROAM tokens and can be withdrawn at any time.

• OG Community Membership Pass: Provides VIP status, special airdrops, increased mining income, and stronger voting rights in community governance.

1. $ROAM:

• Governance token reflecting the project's market value, with a hard cap and a maximum supply of 1 billion tokens.

• Initially generates 400 million tokens, of which 280 million are allocated to the investment team, 120 million are reserved for the team, and the remaining 600 million are generated through mining or staking.

1. Roam Points:

• Off-chain equity tokens used for daily operations and rewards, with no hard cap, can be exchanged for $ROAM.

• Circulate within the ecosystem for purchasing application services, accessing data, or publishing advertisements, and can be burned under specific circumstances to generate $ROAM or exchange for other assets.

Section Summary:

|-------------|-----------|------------|----------| | | Theta | Helium | ROAM | | Number of Nodes | 5885 | 405525 | 407952 | | Total Countries/Regions | 119 | 107 | 145 |

Source: depinscan.io

According to data statistics from DePINscan, the number of nodes for ROAM has surpassed Helium, and it covers a broader urban area. Theta has fewer nodes, as the transmission of video and media platforms has certain thresholds. ROAM has successfully attracted a large number of users due to the convenience of accessing WiFi and the commonality of miner deployment, making its market response after the token launch highly anticipated. As an established DePIN project, Helium has significant advantages in funding and technology and continues to deepen its involvement in the DePIN track. Its latest proposal to reward users for participating in the energy market through solar power generation and battery storage is a significant attempt in the DePIN energy sector. If Helium or other DePIN projects can make more attempts or innovations in the energy sector, DePIN will be endowed with a more macro social attribute, achieving the redistribution of physical resources on a global scale.

Disclaimer: Readers are advised to strictly comply with the laws and regulations of their location; this article does not represent any investment advice.