Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) are still early, but the momentum is undeniable. We've been tracking this space closely, and the takeaway is clear: traditional infrastructure — costly, rigid, and centralized — is hitting its limits. DePIN is heating up, leveraging existing resources and handing control to participants to solve pressing challenges in compute, connectivity, and beyond.
Investment is pouring in — Borderless Capital's $100M fund, VanEck's DePIN-focused products, and direct backing for projects like DAWN by Andrena, which lets households monetize bandwidth to build community-owned internet. Helium's million-plus nodes already power a global wireless network with tangible reach. Messari predicts DePIN could scale 100 to 1,000 times over the next decade as industries pivot.
Table of contents
What is DePIN?
We've all seen it — cloud computing costs keep climbing, networks get congested at peak times, and traditional infrastructure is hitting critical limitations. The demand for scalable, cost-effective digital infrastructure is growing faster than what even the biggest providers can efficiently deliver.
Instead of relying on massive data centers run by hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud, or traditional internet service providers like Comcast or Spectrum, DePINs distribute the workload by enabling anyone to contribute physical resources. Blockchain technology serves as the backbone, handling secure transactions, verifying contributions, and making sure participants get fairly rewarded.
What drives DePIN's power is its clear value proposition: contributors share compute, storage, or bandwidth and earn tokens they can actually use or sell, while users access affordable, resilient infrastructure. As more people join, the network grows stronger and more efficient, more global and quickly adapts to changing demands.
This approach is a sharp departure from traditional providers, who centralize control and infrastructure costs. DePIN distributes those responsibilities across its network — each participant adds a piece of the puzzle, enabling natural scaling without the bottlenecks or high costs traditional models face.
The benefits of DePIN: Why it matters
Traditional infrastructure has done its job, but its limitations are becoming hard to ignore. A few large players control most of the market, driving up costs and leaving businesses with limited options. DePIN offers a fix:
Cost efficiency
There's a ton of unused computing power sitting in devices all around the world. DePIN taps into these idle resources, creating a more efficient, decentralized marketplace. Instead of building expensive new data centers, it uses existing capacity, making high-performance resources available to teams of any size.
Projects like Render Network are already providing more cost-effective solutions through this distributed approach, potentially slashing costs compared to traditional providers.
Performance without the bottlenecks
Traditional services often buckle under peak demand, but DePIN networks thrive as more people join, organically distributing workloads across participants. When power's needed, the network can automatically route workloads to available resources. DAWN's ability to let households monetize excess bandwidth while delivering quality service shows just how effectively DePIN can scale.
Community ownership
DePIN networks create multiple ways for people to get involved and earn rewards. You can contribute computing power or storage, validate network activity, help map services in your area, or participate in governance decisions. By taking part, you become a part of the network's success.
Access for everyone
One of the most powerful things about DePIN is how it makes enterprise-level infrastructure accessible to everyone. Whether you're a solo developer working on a new AI model or a startup building the next big dApp, you can access the computing power, storage, and bandwidth you need without overspending.
Leading DePIN projects and use cases
It's exciting how fast DePIN is being used in the real world. We're already seeing networks that are just as good as traditional providers, and in some cases, they're even way better.
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Computing power & AI
AI's boom is pushing compute demand to some of the highest levels of the modern age, and DePIN's stepping up to solve practical challenges. These networks connect unused GPUs globally, making high-end computing accessible on-demand to everyone from indie artists to AI researchers.
The impact is already measurable: in 2024, this space grew over 300%, with GPUs reaching 76% utilization across networks. Here's how it's playing out:
Golem Network created a peer-to-peer marketplace where anyone can rent out spare computing power. Their Thorg app makes it simple — you contribute resources to process complex computational tasks and earn GLM tokens in return. This has opened up affordable render farms for 3D artists and development environments for coders who can't afford traditional cloud resources.
Cere Network took a different approach, focusing on data processing for AI applications. After securing $40M from Binance Labs, they've built specialized data clusters that outperform traditional solutions like IPFS. Their Dragon 1 platform is already helping developers deploy AI apps without the usual infrastructure headaches or costs.
Cere Network’s Dragon 1 Developer Console. Source: Cere Network
What makes these networks valuable is how they're democratizing access to computing power that was previously locked behind expensive enterprise contracts. Smaller teams can now train AI models, render complex graphics, or run computationally expensive simulations without massive upfront investments.
Wireless networks
Connectivity is being completely reimagined through DePIN solutions that address real-world problems while creating new economic opportunities.
WiFi Map has built an impressive network with access to millions of WiFi hotspots serving over 180 million users across 200+ countries. They've evolved into a connectivity super-app that offers WiFi finding, travel eSIMs for 90+ countries, offline maps, and a $WiFi wallet — their community has been instrumental in helping travelers and locals find reliable connections worldwide.
WiFi Map app
Helium Mobile combines a community-powered network with traditional 5G coverage, offering what traditional carriers can't: a free Zero Plan with 3GB data, a $15/month plan with 10GB data, and a $30/month unlimited plan. Users can earn points through network participation that convert to gift cards, creating a virtuous cycle of contribution and reward.
DAWN is tackling the neighborhood connectivity gap by turning households into micro-ISPs. Their simple hardware setup allows anyone to share their internet connection with neighbors, creating extra income while helping more people get affordable access. The key innovation is how they've simplified what was once technically complex — sharing the internet securely without compromising performance. With backing from VanEck, they're expanding beyond their U.S. market to help people cut costs and create community-owned alternatives to big internet companies.
Roam by Metablox solves multiple connectivity pain points with practical solutions. Their eSIM app eliminates international roaming fees with global data coverage. Their WiFi network rewards contributors who add verified hotspots. Most impressively, their Rainier MAX60 router lets homeowners earn passive income while extending secure WiFi coverage. They've addressed the frustration of public WiFi by creating a system that connects automatically with proper security, eliminating the hassle of captive portals and sketchy connections.
Roam Rainier Max60 Router. Source: Roam
Roam mobile app
The truepower of these wireless DePIN networks is how they're flipping the traditional model — instead of a few companies controlling all access, communities themselves are building and benefiting from the infrastructure they use every day.
Storage solutions
Filecoin has become a leader in decentralized storage, building an impressive network with over 20 thousand petabytes of capacity — enough to store billions of HD movies. What makes this powerful is how it transforms data storage from a corporate service into a community resource that's more resilient against outages and censorship.
Storj focuses on ease of use and integration with existing systems. Their platform lets anyone monetize unused hard drive space while earning STORJ tokens. Beyond just being distributed, Storj delivers significant environmental benefits by reducing cloud storage costs and carbon footprint by up to 80% compared to traditional providers. The platform's emphasis on encryption and decentralization makes it particularly valuable for backups, video storage, and cloud-native applications.
Storj dashboard. Source: Storj
While storage networks currently show lower utilization (0.9%) compared to compute resources, they're creating flexible, budget-friendly options that avoid vendor lock-in. For contributors, these platforms turn idle drive space into income. These storage networks become even more powerful when paired with other DePIN services, creating apps that break free from big cloud providers while keeping data safer and easier to access.
Real-world data & sensors
While storage networks handle the bits and bytes, sensor networks tap into the physical world, turning everyday people into data contributors. We're surrounded by untapped info — weather patterns, traffic flows — that DePIN's unlocking by incentivizing sensor deployment. It's paying off: sensor network revenue surged in 2024, with leaders like Geodnet and Hivemapper driving massive growth as the sector hit 5x gains overall.
Geodnet has built a network of precision location sensors that delivers hyper-accurate geospatial data for farming, transportation, and self-driving tech. What makes this work is how regular people can set up nodes that contribute to the network, earning rewards while expanding coverage to areas traditional systems might miss.
Hivemapper is completely reimagining how we create maps. They've equipped thousands of drivers with dashcams that automatically document streets and changes in real-time. The result? Maps that update daily instead of annually, capturing road closures, new construction, and traffic patterns as they happen. Contributors earn tokens while helping build something everyone uses — a perfect example of DePIN's power.
Health data is getting the DePIN treatment too. Pulse's wearable tracks over 50 activities while creating a "digital twin" of your health data. The key difference from mainstream fitness trackers? You actually own your data instead of becoming the product. Users can monetize their information if they choose, while benefiting from practical features like waterproofing, temperature sensing, and wireless charging — all designed to help track energy levels and productivity.
What makes these sensor networks so powerful is how they completely flip traditional economics. Instead of a few big companies paying for massive sensor deployments, DePIN spreads those costs across thousands of contributors using their own devices.
Energy infrastructure
Where sensor networks gather the world's pulse, energy projects channel its power — and we're seeing the traditional energy sector hitting serious roadblocks. New power plants in the U.S. face a backlog that's doubled since 2010, with grid hookup times now 2.5 times longer than two decades ago. And if you've ever wondered why solar is still expensive: half the cost isn't even the panels, it's administrative overhead.
Daylight is tackling these issues with a decentralized protocol that optimizes grids using real-time data from distributed energy sources. Backed by $9 million from Andreessen Horowitz's crypto arm, their app connects homeowners' devices — solar panels, heat pumps, water heaters — tracking output, usage, and rewards. By handling installations and coordination, they make renewables more accessible, empowering people to form virtual power plants that support the grid during peak demand.
Daylight iPhone app. Source: App Store
Powerledger complements this approach with their Solana-based platform for energy trading. The system tracks and enables real-time energy swaps, creating flexible power systems that better handle the variability of renewable sources. Their peer-to-peer marketplace helps utilities shift to greener energy without destabilizing the grid or disrupting operations — an essential step toward wider renewable adoption.
Glow takes a different approach by redirecting solar farm capacity from crypto mining toward carbon credits. This shift prioritizes environmental impact over energy-intensive mining operations, boosting renewable adoption by aligning financial incentives with carbon reduction goals. The results speak for themselves — Glow's output soared 5,000x in a single year, demonstrating how DePIN can drive massive sustainable energy growth.
Together, these projects show how decentralized networks are breaking down energy market barriers by connecting producers and consumers directly, slashing administrative costs, and accelerating the transition to renewable sources.
Privacy solutions
Online privacy is becoming harder to maintain as big tech companies and governments increase surveillance. Traditional VPNs and privacy tools have their own problems — centralized control and potential data logging. DePIN networks are creating stronger alternatives that put users back in control.
Mysterium Network has created an open-source ecosystem that bypasses digital borders. Their P2P marketplace lets thousands of node operators earn MYST tokens by sharing IP addresses, creating a tamper-proof, anonymous network that outperforms traditional VPNs. Anyone with spare bandwidth can run a node, turning unused internet into income while helping others access information freely across 100+ countries.
Orchid's decentralized VPN uses Ethereum, OXT tokens and nanopayments to keep fees low. It regularly switches your location, making tracking difficult. Available on major platforms with features beyond typical VPNs, Orchid maintains full decentralization from payments to node discovery—no single entity holds control.
Orchid’s deVPN app. Source: Orchid
DePIN's market momentum
For years, big players like AWS, Google Cloud, and utility giants have locked down infrastructure, with sky-high costs and long wait times. DePIN's changing that — Projects like Helium's million-plus wireless nodes, Filecoin's 20,000+ petabytes of storage, and Geodnet's precision sensors are spreading resources far and wide and making them much more accessible. The financial indicators back this up — these networks are scaling efficiently, generating revenue, and proving this model is sustainable.
Why DePIN is growing now
So, why is DePIN gaining such momentum now? Cloud costs are escalating rapidly, driven by AI and compute-intensive workloads that strain organizational budgets. Meanwhile, centralized systems remain vulnerable to disruptions. DePIN cuts through that hassle with a smart, people-powered approach built on three big wins:
1. Community ownership: Control and rewards spread across participants, not hoarded by a single company. People pitch in because they've got a stake — they're builders with equity in the game.
2. Reduces capital expenditure needed to scale: Traditional providers sink billions into data centers before seeing returns. DePIN leverages existing resources, adding capacity without the giant upfront costs.
3. Token incentives kickstart a flywheel: Opportunities to earn tokens incentivize more people to contribute resources to the network, the network gets stronger, incentivizing developers to build applications on the network, and end users to utilize the resources and applications.
DePIN by the numbers
- Projects: Less than 100 in 2022, over 1,170 in 2024
- Market cap: Went from under $5 billion to $50 billion in just two years
- Active nodes: 20 DePINs have over 100,000 nodes; 5 have more than 1 million
- Revenue growth: 33x growth in 2024, hitting $500 million annualized
- Daily participation: On average, 13 million devices are active in DePIN networks every day
What's next for DePIN
DePIN is producing tangible, measurable results. The rapid growth of AI, coupled with a rising need for compute, storage, and connectivity, is driving adoption. We're seeing new products emerge, networks expand, and projects generate revenue, all pointing to clear momentum.
It's important to note that challenges persist. Resolving matters of regulation, standardization, and large-scale adoption will require patience. Yet, the progress achieved to date makes this a vital space to observe.
We’re curious to see where things go next. As we continue to explore and dive deeper into the DePIN space, follow us on X to join the conversation and stay informed.
