DePIN 2024-25 Investment Map: In-Depth Analysis of 12 Noteworthy Projects

Why Is This Sector Worth $3.2 Billion?

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) is becoming one of the hottest concepts in the crypto market. As of November 2024, the total market capitalization of the DePIN sector has exceeded $3.2 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume nearing $300 million.

What does this mean? It means using blockchain + incentive mechanisms to decentralize traditional infrastructure—energy networks, wireless networks, data storage—all moved on-chain. Both VanEck and Borderless Capital are bullish on this direction, with the latter even raising $100 million specifically for DePIN projects.

Can this growth continue? The market predicts the DePIN sector could reach a $3.5 trillion market size by 2028. Those buying in now may only be getting an appetizer.

How Does DePIN Actually Make Money?

The core logic is simple:

• You have idle resources (GPU, bandwidth, storage, hardware)
• The DePIN network needs these resources
• You contribute resources, and the network gives you tokens
• Tokens can be traded or spent

For example, if you have solar panels at home, you can directly sell excess electricity to your neighbors, with automatic settlement via blockchain. Traditional power grids can’t do it this cheaply.

12 Project Snapshots: Who’s Riding the Wave?

First Tier: Large Market Cap Projects

1. Internet Computer (ICP) | $4.3B Market Cap | +121% Gain

Created by the DFINITY Foundation, dubbed the “World Computer.” It connects independent global data centers into a blockchain base layer, allowing developers to deploy applications without traditional cloud infrastructure.

In 2024, they rolled out three upgrades: Tokamak, Beryllium, and Stellarator, maximizing performance. The 2025 focus is integrating AI and the Solana ecosystem. The idea: if DePIN needs computing infrastructure, ICP wants to be the foundational pipeline.

2. Bittensor (TAO) | $3.8B Market Cap | +152% Gain

A bit hardcore: it brings AI machine learning to the blockchain, enabling collaborative model training. Participants earn TAO tokens based on “information value”—how much your data contribution is worth.

In 2024, they introduced Proof of Intelligence and distributed expert hybrid models, expanding the ecosystem quickly. In 2025, they plan to broaden use cases and solidify their decentralized AI territory.

3. Theta Network | $1.5B Market Cap | +76% Gain

DePIN for video streaming. Users share idle bandwidth and computing power to form a P2P network, dramatically reducing costs for content providers. Dual token model: THETA for governance, TFUEL for payments.

In 2024, they launched EdgeCloud, merging cloud and edge computing to support AI and video applications. The 2025 roadmap is to build a global computing grid—imagine a distributed supercomputer made up of community nodes.

Second Tier: Niche Experts

4. Render (RENDER) | Migrated from Ethereum to Solana | +150% Gain

Turns idle GPUs worldwide into a rendering factory. Designers needing 3D rendering rent GPUs from the network. In 2024, they migrated from Ethereum to Solana (token swap RNDR to RENDER, 1:1), optimizing speed and fees.

Analysts predict it could hit $7.51 within the year. Targets high-GPU-demand sectors like film, gaming, and VR.

5. Filecoin | $200M+ TVL | Stable Market Performance

A veteran in decentralized storage. In 2024, they launched the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), unlocking new possibilities—smart contracts can now run directly on the storage network, with TVL surpassing $200 million. But FIL’s price has been flat, hovering below $11.

The 2025 hope is to run Ethereum contracts on FVM to attract DeFi projects.

6. Arweave (AR) | $1.24B Market Cap | +171% Gain

Permanent storage solution. Uses “blockweave” instead of blockchain, where each block links to several previous blocks, increasing redundancy. The consensus mechanism is “Proof of Random Access”—miners must prove they can access random historical data, indirectly incentivizing full archives.

Version 2.8 released in November, improving energy efficiency. Analysts target $21.42.

7. The Graph (GRT) | $1.93B Market Cap | +67% Gain

Blockchain data indexing. Developers write Subgraphs to query on-chain data; GRT is the incentive token for stakeholders. In 2024, it supported multiple chains including Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum.

The 2025 focus is building a “data service world”—not just querying, but also composing, billing, and trading data. Aims to become the “Google” of on-chain data.

Third Tier: Rising Stars

8. Grass Network | $600M Market Cap | +200% Gain (since airdrop)

The latest DePIN trendsetter. Run a node, contribute idle bandwidth, and help AI companies scrape web data. In October, they airdropped 100 million GRASS to 1.5 million wallets, surging 200% post-launch.

Now with 2 million users, the ecosystem is still in cold start. In 2025, they plan to add staking and DAO governance.

9. JasmyCoin | $1.35B Market Cap | +366% Gain

Founded by former Sony executives, focusing on IoT + data sovereignty. Users have full control over their IoT data, not monopolized by big companies. In 2024, rumors of partnerships with NVIDIA and Ripple boosted confidence.

10. Helium | $990M Market Cap | +190% Gain

DePIN for wireless networks. Operate a Hotspot (small base station) to mine HNT. Has already migrated to Solana, adding 5G capability in 2024. Over 335K mobile users. In 2025, they aim to enhance coverage and the Proof-of-Coverage mechanism.

11. IoTeX | $410M Market Cap | +90% Gain

A public chain dedicated to IoT devices. Roll-DPoS consensus for low latency. Released IoTeX 2.0 in 2024, optimized for DePIN projects; already has 230 DApps and 50+ DePIN projects using it.

2025 goal: connect 100 million IoT devices, unlocking trillions in real-world asset value.

12. Shieldeum | Web3 Network Security

AI-driven network security DePIN. Provides app hosting, data encryption, threat detection. Raised $2M USDT in 2024, and developed clients for Windows/Mac/Linux/Android/iOS.

2025 plan: launch a BNB Layer-2 to run nodes.

Why Are These Projects Taking Off?

1. Cost Advantage | For example, Render (GPU rendering) vs. traditional cloud rendering—users and projects both win.

2. Community Participation | Token incentives allow ordinary people to participate in infrastructure building, not just big corporations.

3. Data Ownership | Users control their own data instead of being mined—this is a core Web3 selling point.

4. Capital Support | Traditional investment firms like VanEck are researching DePIN, so it’s not just hype.

Risks and Challenges

Not all DePIN projects will succeed; be aware of:

• Technical Complexity | Combining physical infrastructure with blockchain is costly to integrate.
• Regulatory Uncertainty | Spans digital and physical infrastructure, with varying policies across countries.
• Implementation Difficulty | To beat centralized incumbents, there must be a clear cost advantage.
• Token Price Divergence from Fundamentals | Many token prices are surging, but real user growth lags behind.

Investment Logic for 2025

What to focus on?

1. Monthly active users (not just wallet addresses)
2. Real revenue (is the project making money, not just surviving on token incentives)
3. Speed of technological iteration (2025 will be a proving period)
4. Policy friendliness (some countries/regions are more supportive of DePIN)

The Pigs on the Runway: Top projects like ICP and Bittensor are relatively safe but have already surged a lot. Projects like Grass and JasmyCoin are still early but come with higher risk.

Overall, the direction of DePIN is correct—using economic incentives to restructure infrastructure is a real need over the next 10 years. But project selection and timing are crucial; don’t blindly chase the highs.