DePIN Panorama Overview: Exploring the Current Situation and Eight Emerging Projects

Author: Alvis, Mars Finance

We have witnessed the waves of DeFi Summer, the NFT craze, and the metaverse frenzy. So, will the next big wave turn towards DePIN?

Between 2020 and 2021, the market capitalization of DeFi skyrocketed nearly 100 times, jumping from $1.75 billion to $172.2 billion. If the market cap of DeFi grows 10 times in the current bull market, and DePIN reaches 50% of DeFi's market cap, then DePIN's total market cap is expected to exceed $500 billion, leaving at least 20 times growth potential. Messari estimates that by 2028, the market cap of DePIN will reach $3.5 trillion, indicating a potential 120 times growth space for DePIN.

Next, we will review eight popular DePIN projects that have launched since 2024, which have not yet issued tokens or have just completed financing, revealing future trends in this emerging field.

Current Status of DePIN

DePIN stands for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network. It encourages users to share personal resources to build infrastructure networks, including storage space, communication bandwidth, cloud computing, energy, and more, through token incentives. In simple terms, DePIN crowdsources infrastructure that was originally provided by centralized companies, distributing it to numerous users around the globe.

Source: Messari

The DePIN ecosystem can be divided into six main categories: computing, wireless, energy, artificial intelligence, services, and sensors. In these core areas, several new narratives have recently emerged, such as the rise of decentralized gaming infrastructure (DeGIN) in computing networks, the application of AI data layers in bandwidth networks, breakthroughs in robotics in mobile networks, and the manufacturing industry's demand for mobile networks.

Image source: Rootdata

This year, venture capital funding for crypto projects has seen a significant recovery. According to data from Rootdata, as of August 2024, the total global investment has reached $6.7 billion. In recent months, the rise of DePIN networks has shown a market fit similar to the early stages of the "sharing economy," covering multiple areas of DePIN, each demonstrating unique application scenarios.

Notable investment highlights include io.net, a distributed GPU project based on Solana, which successfully raised $20 million in its Series A financing, with a token valuation reaching $1 billion; another noteworthy project is Aethir, a decentralized GPU computing node provider, which raised $65 million within the first hour of its node sales. These achievements mark the rapid maturation of the DePIN field, attracting substantial investments and generating widespread attention.

Overview of DePIN market capitalization, source: Messari

According to Messari, the total market cap of DePIN projects has surpassed $2 billion. Among them, Filecoin leads the DePIN projects with a market cap of $2.4 billion, firmly in first place. Following closely is Render Network, with a market cap of $2.2 billion, ranking second. Opentensor comes in third with a market cap of $2.1 billion. Among the top eight DePIN protocols ranked by market cap, seven belong to DRN (Decentralized Resource Network), with a total market cap of $12.2 billion. Helium is the only physical resource network (PRN) in the top eight, ranking seventh with a market cap of $870 million. These figures highlight the rapid development and diverse investment opportunities in the DePIN field.

Global distribution of DePIN nodes, image source: DePINScan

Currently, the total number of DePIN devices has reached 18 million, with nodes spread across 195 countries and regions, primarily concentrated in North America, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Overview of DePIN revenue, source: Messari

Despite the continuous rise in the market cap of DePIN projects, revenue growth has not kept pace. Currently, only four of the largest DePIN protocols occupy a spot in the top eight ranked by revenue. Although the valuations of these projects remain very high, with an FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation) to revenue ratio as high as 3000 times, the inflow of funds remains strong, and investors are eager to see stronger product-market fit. The entire ecosystem has expanded to over 2,500 projects and boasts more than 600,000 active nodes. These figures reflect the contradiction between market recognition and actual revenue in the DePIN field, while also revealing its potential for future growth and challenges.

Today, Mars Finance will review eight popular projects that have launched since 2024, revealing how these cutting-edge technologies play a key role in the DePIN ecosystem. Through this review, you will have the opportunity to uncover potential wealth codes and seize investment opportunities.

Eight Popular Projects

IoTeX

IoTeX is a Layer 1 blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), dedicated to providing a secure and reliable environment for human-machine interactions, aiming to support the Internet of Trusted Things. By building a trusted IoT platform, IoTeX powers various decentralized applications (such as Cyclone and Mimo), smart devices (such as UCam and Pebble), services (such as ioay and ioTube), and decentralized networks for digital assets, bringing higher value and richer experiences to end users.

After completing a total of $35 million in financing in 2018 and 2022, IoTeX secured another $50 million in funding in April 2024. This round of financing was participated in by top investment institutions such as Borderless Capital, Amber Group, Foresight Ventures, FutureMoney Group, SNZ, Metrics Ventures, EV3, and Waterdrip Capital. The IoTeX team stated that this investment will mainly be used to promote the development of DePIN and the adoption of the ecosystem through long-term staking of IOTX (the core token of IoTeX). Additionally, the funds will be further invested in IoTeX-based DePIN projects in collaboration with the IoTeX Foundation and the DePINsurf accelerator fund, driving more innovation and application implementation.

Currently, IoTeX has released a new version of the IoTeX 2.0 white paper. The new white paper details the platform's composable modules, unified trust layer, and new token economics. The plan aims to onboard 100 million devices and unlock trillions of dollars in value within the next 3 to 5 years. This strategy not only marks IoTeX's ambition in pushing technological frontiers and market expansion but also demonstrates its firm commitment to achieving widespread impact and long-term development.

The core token of IoTeX, IOTX, is currently priced at $0.03, having decreased by -9.10% over the past 7 days, and down -3.60% in the global cryptocurrency market. Previously, the OKX Web3 wallet integrated IoTeX, and whether IOTX will be listed on OKX and its token trends are worth paying attention to!

io.net

io.net is a revolutionary decentralized computing network focused on developing, executing, and scaling machine learning (ML) applications on the Solana blockchain. By combining 1 million GPUs, it has created the world's largest GPU cluster, providing unprecedented processing power for compute-intensive tasks. What sets io.net apart is its aggregation of GPUs from underutilized resources, including independent data centers, crypto miners, and resources from crypto projects like Filecoin and Render. This integration forms a powerful computing platform within the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), enabling engineers to access massive computing power in an accessible, customizable, cost-effective, and easy-to-implement environment.

In terms of financing, io.net successfully completed a $10 million seed round last year and quickly secured $30 million in Series A financing this year. Its investment team is impressive, providing strong financial support for the project's future development. Currently, io.net's architecture is taking shape, including core components such as the IO network and IO engine, aiming to achieve efficient sharing of GPU resources in a decentralized manner, significantly enhancing resource utilization.

io.net executes the buyback and burn of the $IO token according to a fixed preset program, with the specific buyback and burn quantity depending on the $IO price at execution. The funds used for buying back $IO come from the operational revenue of IOG (The Internet of GPUs - GPU Internet), charging a 0.25% order reservation fee from both buyers and providers of computing power in IOG, as well as a 2% handling fee for purchasing computing power with $USDC. By buying back and burning tokens to increase their scarcity, it further enhances the token's value. However, as an emerging project, io.net still faces challenges in technical implementation, market demand matching, and other aspects, requiring investors and observers to closely monitor its development dynamics.

Recently, IO was launched on Bithumb, South Korea's second-largest exchange, and has already been listed on several mainstream exchanges such as Binance. IO currently has a market cap of $150 million, an FDV of $1.28 billion, a maximum supply of 8 billion, and a current circulation rate of 11.88%.

Aethir

Aethir is a decentralized real-time rendering network aimed at elevating the accessibility of metaverse content to new heights. By building a scalable decentralized cloud infrastructure (DCI), it enables both gaming and AI companies to deliver their products directly to global users, breaking geographical and hardware limitations.

To date, Aethir's GPU network and cloud services have generated over $36 million in revenue annually, with these revenues converted weekly into ATH tokens, ensuring users can easily access computing power. This revenue level not only surpasses most DePIN projects but also showcases Aethir's strong position in the market. In the AI field, Aethir's collaboration with TensorOpera is particularly noteworthy. Utilizing Aethir's decentralized GPU infrastructure, TensorOpera successfully trained an AI model with 750 million parameters, demonstrating its strong capabilities in high-performance computing.

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

ATH currently has a market cap of $260 million, an FDV of $2.7 billion, and a current circulation rate of 9.66%. Major trading markets include OKX, Bybit, HTX, gate.io, KuCoin, and it was recently listed on the two largest exchanges in South Korea.

Bittensor

Bittensor is an open-source protocol dedicated to supporting blockchain-based machine learning networks. The protocol facilitates the collaborative training of machine learning models and rewards participants with TAO tokens based on the value of the information they collectively contribute. Additionally, TAO tokens grant users the right to extract information from the network and allow them to adjust their activities according to their needs. Bittensor's ultimate vision is to create a decentralized marketplace platform for artificial intelligence, where consumers and producers can interact in a trustless, fully transparent environment driven by incentive mechanisms.

Since the end of last year, with the surge in the AI field, Bittensor has stood out, with its TAO token price skyrocketing from around $80 in October last year to over $730 in March this year, with a market cap peaking at around $4.7 billion. Bittensor has rapidly risen to become a leader in the AI sector with its innovative narrative, even breaking into the top 30 in terms of cryptocurrency market cap. Currently, the price of the TAO token has fallen back to $268.

However, the story of Bittensor is far from over. The ecosystem is just getting started. In 2024, as the first AI project publicly sold on CoinList, Masa announced it will launch an LLM-based AI data subnet on Bittensor, becoming the first tokenized data subnet in the Bittensor ecosystem. The launch of Masa marks the only new investment star in the broader Bittensor ecosystem after TAO, drawing significant attention as a "new coin."

DIMO Network

DIMO is a decentralized software and hardware IoT platform that allows users to create verified vehicle data streams to share privately with applications, enabling users to negotiate better services such as auto financing and insurance. Digital Infrastructure is building the DIMO network, a decentralized automotive data protocol, and DIMO Mobile, an application that allows drivers to collect and view their own vehicle data and earn rewards through DIMO tokens.

Alex Felix, managing partner and chief investment officer of CoinFund, will join the board of Digital Infrastructure. The new round of financing has brought Digital Infrastructure's total funding to $22 million.

$DIMO is an ERC-20 token on the Polygon and Ethereum blockchains, with a total token supply of 1,000,000,000.

700 million $DIMO will be initially allocated to a community-controlled DAO treasury. Teams and individuals contributing to the network may earn $DIMO (and/or other cryptocurrencies accumulated in the treasury) in the form of bounties or grants. However, the primary way for most users to earn tokens is through driver rewards.

The remaining 300,000,000 $DIMO has been allocated to the initial team (approximately 224,000,000) and investment partners (approximately 76,000,000). These allocations will have a lock-up period of at least two years from the launch of the mainnet, with tokens unlocking monthly until fully unlocked after three years.

Currently, the DIMO token has been listed on several exchanges, including Coinbase and Gate. The token price is $0.12, with a circulation rate of 24%.

Helium Mobile

Helium Mobile is a decentralized hotspot network launched by Helium, allowing anyone to deploy hotspots and immediately add dynamic coverage to the Helium mobile network. By expanding coverage and helping to build the network, users can earn MOBILE rewards.

According to the Helium website, a licensing program for its hotspot devices is being launched. Helium Mobile's hotspots allow individuals or businesses to establish "mini mobile signal towers," broadcasting mobile signals and receiving tokens in exchange.

Currently, several third-party manufacturers and suppliers provide services for the Helium IoT network, but Helium Mobile is currently the only supplier offering mobile signal coverage devices. Through the licensing program, Helium Mobile aims to earn licensing fees from hotspots manufactured elsewhere while developing its cellular network.

Its token Mobile experienced a crazy surge at the end of last year, rising more than 50 times at its peak. The current price is $0.001, with a circulation rate of 42%.

DAWN

The Solana-based DePIN project Dawn recently secured $18 million in financing, led by Dragonfly, with participation from CMT Digital, Castle Island Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, and ParaFi. Solana also reposted about it on X.

Neil Chatterjee, co-founder of Andrena, stated that this round of financing is an extension of the Series A round, structured as a simple future equity agreement (SAFE) with token warrants. Moreover, this round of financing was "significantly oversubscribed," with an initial target of only $5 million, but ultimately raised more funds in batches earlier this year to ensure a smooth token launch.

DAWN utilizes the latest point-to-multipoint (PtMP) wireless technology, enabling nodes to efficiently communicate directly with multiple nodes. This allows for high-density bandwidth distribution among numerous users in the network, turning each node into a mini ISP. Through protocols and hardware, users can buy and sell internet capacity in their surrounding areas, operating as internet service providers and earning revenue through DAWN nodes.

The current distribution of DAWN tokens is as follows: various network nodes (i.e., hardware facility participants) will receive 25% of the total token supply as rewards; third-party validators (i.e., software device participants) will receive 7% of the total tokens, while the project treasury, team, and investors hold 20%, with the token unlock time unknown.

The project is still in its early stages, and early points can be earned by downloading a browser extension to act as a validating node.

Peaq Network

Peaq is a Web3 network supporting the Internet of Things (EoT) on Polkadot. Peaq enables entrepreneurs and developers to build decentralized applications for vehicles, robots, and devices while allowing users to manage and earn income when connected machines provide goods and services.

The DePIN Layer1 protocol Peaq completed a $20 million fundraising campaign through CoinList on May 17, attracting participation from over 14,500 community members, raising a total of over $36 million, and being oversubscribed for Peaq's token issuance. This event became the largest and highest-grossing fundraising campaign on CoinList in over two years. The new funds will primarily be used to ensure that Peaq-based DePIN becomes an industry leader and accelerate the development of the peaqosystem, while promoting various ecosystem and community initiatives.

Additionally, Peaq launched its native token PEAQ on CoinList from May 9 to May 16. However, users from regions such as the United States, Canada, China, and South Korea were unable to participate in this token issuance. Meanwhile, Peaq is actively preparing to launch its mainnet to further drive the development of its ecosystem.

Advantages of DePIN

DePIN network growth flywheel, image source: Coingecko

Among the eight projects we reviewed, some have issued tokens while others are still in preparation. Compared to traditional centralized infrastructure providers, these DePIN projects demonstrate several clear advantages.

First, DePIN utilizes crypto incentive mechanisms to provide a more efficient capital allocation method for capital-intensive and high-maintenance traditional infrastructure. This mechanism not only optimizes the use of funds but may also reduce costs to levels more acceptable to consumers. By decentralizing, DePIN can mobilize resources more flexibly and reduce reliance on traditional funding models, leading to more competitive services and products.

Second, the DePIN network creates a highly redundant system by distributing data and services across multiple nodes. This distributed structure ensures that even if a node fails or encounters issues, the rest of the network can continue to operate smoothly. This redundancy design significantly enhances the stability and reliability of the system, thereby reducing downtime and the risk of service interruptions.

Finally, DePIN's community-centered approach empowers local communities with management rights over their networks. This approach not only improves the management efficiency of the network but also allows decisions regarding resource allocation and maintenance to be made at the grassroots level. This means that infrastructure is not merely seen as a tool for economic profit but is regarded as an asset that serves the long-term interests of the community as a whole. The involvement of local communities enhances the sense of ownership and responsibility towards the infrastructure while improving resource utilization efficiency.

Overall, these characteristics highlight the tremendous potential of DePIN in driving infrastructure innovation. Through more efficient capital utilization, enhanced system reliability, and community-driven management, DePIN can not only improve the overall operational efficiency of infrastructure but also have a profound impact on communities, setting new standards for future infrastructure development.

Conclusion

The rapid changes in DePIN remind me of the transformations in the sharing industry in earlier years, from shared bicycles and shared healthcare to shared power banks. The swift influx of capital does not necessarily indicate a good thing, especially as the capital input in DePIN focuses more on the maturity of technology and the expansion of practical application scenarios. Investors want to see how decentralized technology can land in the real world and bring actual benefits, which differs from the market expansion model of the early sharing economy. At the same time, DePIN also faces regulatory risks similar to those in the sharing industry, such as data protection, tax compliance, and labor rights issues, which may impact capital input.

The green mountains cannot hide the flowing water.

The vigorous development of DePIN, driven by decentralized technology, faces challenges and uncertainties, but its innovative momentum and growth potential remain unstoppable and will continue to move forward!