Author: Santy｜Blockchain in Plain Language
As AI penetrates every aspect of our lives at an unprecedented speed, the demand for computing power is like an insatiable black hole. The centralized computing giants are working at full capacity, but a more disruptive force is quietly rising in the Web3 field - DePIN . It not only attempts to reshape traditional storage and networks with token incentives, but also sets its sights on the hot field of AI computing power. Imagine that the idle GPU and CPU resources around the world are efficiently connected to provide a steady stream of power for the training and reasoning of AI models.
According to the DePIN Report released by Messari at the end of 2024, the DePIN market has maintained a year-on-year growth of more than 120% in the past year, with storage and wireless communication fields continuing to lead. With the emergence of projects such as Render Network and Grass, we have reason to believe that DePIN is opening a new door to AI computing power sharing .
So, in this new AI competition driven by "shared computing power", who will be the first to seize the opportunity and become the real leader? In 2025, how will DePIN break through the existing pattern and play a key role in the AI wave?
01
What is DePIN?
DePIN, the full name is decentralized physical infrastructure network . You can think of it as a new model that transfers the power to manage various physical resources around us, such as computer hard drive storage space, home wireless network, or computing power, from large companies like Amazon and Verizon to ordinary users around the world. DePIN allows everyone to contribute their idle resources and then get tokens in return.
Imagine a peer-to-peer system without middlemen: the unused hard disk space in your computer can be used to help build a global storage network; the Wi-Fi router in your home can become part of the decentralized Internet. Blockchain technology is like an open and transparent ledger that records everyone's contribution and automatically and securely rewards everyone with smart contracts to ensure fairness. DePIN can be said to be a very important part of this Web3 transformation.
It is worth mentioning that DePIN is not a fantasy concept, it has begun to become a reality. According to data platforms such as DePIN Scan, there are now hundreds of active DePIN projects covering many fields such as energy, transportation, computing, and communications, and practical applications are accelerating.
02
How does DePIN work?
DePIN combines blockchain technology with various resources in our real world. It works roughly like this:
Blockchain is the foundation: it is like a public ledger that records everyone's contribution, and smart contracts are like an automatically running protocol that safely handles everyone's rewards. Public chains such as Ethereum and Solana provide underlying technical support for many DePIN projects.
Everyone contributes resources together: Users can contribute their idle physical assets, such as excess bandwidth, storage space, computer graphics cards (GPUs, which are crucial in AI computing), electric car charging stations, and even home solar panels.
Contribution brings rewards: As long as you contribute resources, you can get the token issued by the network as a reward (such as Filecoin's FIL, Helium's HNT). This reward mechanism is critical, and it can effectively mobilize idle resources around the world.
For example, with Filecoin, you can rent out your unused hard drive space to others. The blockchain will use some encryption technology to confirm that you have indeed provided storage services, and then you can receive FIL as compensation without any middlemen. This not only reduces costs, but also builds a network that is not easily censored and is very reliable. According to Filecoin's official data, by the end of 2024, their network storage capacity will exceed 20 EiB, providing reliable decentralized storage services for users around the world.
DePIN has a wide range of applications, covering many industries:
Decentralized storage: Like a distributed "cloud disk", it can replace traditional centralized cloud services. In addition to Filecoin, Arweave has also attracted many users by providing permanent storage with a one-time payment.
Wireless network: Establish network connections for the Internet of Things and remote areas through the power of the community. Helium Network not only does a good job in the field of LoRaWAN (a low-power wide-area network technology), but is also working hard to move to 5G networks and want to build a more comprehensive decentralized wireless communication infrastructure.
Energy sharing: Establish a peer-to-peer renewable energy trading market. Projects like Powerledger are trying to use blockchain technology to track and trade renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
AI and computing: Unleash idle computing power and drive an intelligent future. Use everyone's idle computer processing power (especially GPU) to accelerate AI model training or 3D image rendering. Render Network and Akash Network bring together the world's idle graphics cards and CPU computing power to provide cheaper and more efficient solutions for computing-intensive tasks such as AI model training and 3D rendering. As artificial intelligence develops at an unprecedented rate, the demand for computing power is growing exponentially. DePIN shows great potential in providing distributed and affordable AI computing power, which is expected to break the monopoly of centralized computing giants and accelerate the popularization of AI technology.
Transportation: DIMO Network encourages car owners to share their vehicle data and build a decentralized car data platform that can be used for many applications such as smart transportation and insurance.
Geospatial data: Hivemapper encourages everyone to collect high-definition map data using dashcams, with the goal of building a more real-time and accurate decentralized map service to challenge traditional service providers such as Google Maps.
Environmental monitoring: PlanetWatch uses a global network of sensors to monitor air quality, providing more detailed and transparent environmental information. Users can earn rewards by deploying and maintaining these sensor nodes.
Content Distribution Network (CDN): Theta Network uses everyone's idle bandwidth and computing resources to accelerate video playback and content distribution, with the aim of reducing CDN costs and allowing everyone to watch videos more smoothly.
In general, DePIN reduces costs, protects privacy, and enables more people to participate in the construction and use of infrastructure - this is the key reason why DePIN can develop in 2025.
03
Inventory of potential projects in the DePIN track
According to Depinscan data, the total market value of the DePIN track has exceeded US$15 billion, and there are more than 300 Depin projects , many of which have actually begun to be put into use:
Filecoin: The leader in decentralized storage Filecoin is like a decentralized Amazon S3, focusing on providing secure and private storage services.
By the end of 2024, the storage capacity of the Filecoin network has exceeded 20 EiB . Filecoin has maintained its leading position in the field of decentralized storage, and the utilization rate of storage has been steadily increasing. They also launched the Filecoin virtual machine to make this ecosystem more dynamic and capable of doing more.
Helium: Innovator in Wireless Networks <br>In the Helium network, users can deploy a device called a "hotspot" to help build a decentralized wireless network and receive HNT tokens as rewards (HNT has now been divided into two tokens: IOT and MOBILE).
At present, the Helium network has deployed more than 1 million hotspots, covering many places around the world. Messari's report pointed out that Helium has formed a large network effect in the LoRaWAN field and is actively developing 5G networks. They also cooperate with telecom operators such as Nova Labs (formerly Helium), such as promoting decentralized 5G networks with Dish Wireless in the United States.
Helium provides internet access to IoT devices and remote areas, and is becoming a useful complement to traditional telecommunications infrastructure.
Grass Network: Sharing bandwidth to enable AI data collection and model training <br>Based on the Solana blockchain, Grass allows users to share their unused bandwidth. More importantly, it is also actively exploring the use of user device computing power (including GPU) to participate in AI model data collection and distributed training. Users can obtain Grass Points (which can be exchanged for GRASSToken in the future).
Messari's report specifically mentioned Grass's unique resource sharing model and its potential in supporting the development of AI. They are also working with some AI companies to use everyone's idle bandwidth and computing resources to contribute to the advancement of AI.
Render Network: Decentralized GPU computing engine
Render Network is the main platform for connecting everyone's idle graphics cards (GPUs) for AI model training and reasoning , as well as computationally intensive tasks such as 3D rendering. Users can earn RNDRToken rewards (now migrated to the Solana blockchain). Render Network's ecosystem has been expanding, attracting more and more AI researchers, artists, and designers to use their services.Messari's report pointed out that Render Network is a leader in decentralized GPU rendering and AI computing, and their revenue and number of active users have increased significantly. The market value of their RNDRToken in 2024 has also increased significantly, indicating that the market has a great demand for this decentralized GPU computing power. For example, in the fields of AI model training and movie special effects rendering, Render Network has helped complete many important projects.
Hivemapper: Mapping with the power of the community
Hivemapper encourages users to collect map data through dashcams installed in cars and jointly build a decentralized map.Hivemapper's network coverage is getting wider and wider, with people all over the world contributing data. The real-time and accuracy of their map data are also constantly improving, and they are beginning to attract the attention of some corporate users. Hivemapper challenges traditional centralized map service providers and provides more timely and detailed geospatial data.
PlanetWatch: Monitoring air quality around the world
PlanetWatch uses sensors deployed by users to monitor air quality and provide decentralized environmental data. PlanetWatch's sensor network continues to expand and collects a large amount of air quality data. This data is very valuable for environmental research, smart city construction, and other aspects.Theta Network: Making video playback smoother
Theta Network uses users' idle bandwidth and computing resources to accelerate video streaming and content distribution. Theta Network has been working with various video platforms and content providers to expand their network coverage and content distribution capabilities. Their technology can effectively reduce CDN costs and improve users' viewing experience. It can be said that Theta Network has subverted the traditional content distribution model and provided users with a smoother and cheaper video viewing experience.
04
Opportunities and challenges facing DePIN
According to a report by Messari, the total market value of DePIN has increased by more than 120% in the past year, attracting many institutional investors and developers . Many venture capital institutions and analysts are optimistic about the future of DePIN and believe that it will become the next important growth point in the Web3 field.
The advantages of DePIN are:
More economical: No large-scale centralized investment is required. Token rewards are used to attract global users to contribute resources, reducing the cost of building and operating infrastructure.
More reliable: Decentralized networks are more resistant to single point failures and censorship than traditional centralized systems, improving the stability and reliability of the network.
More inclusive: As long as you have qualified equipment and network, anyone can participate, which lowers the threshold and allows more idle resources to be utilized.
The demand is huge: In the fields of telecommunications, energy, AI, IoT, etc., there is an increasing demand for more efficient, safer and more economical decentralized solutions, which provides a broad market for DePIN. Especially in the field of AI, the demand for computing power is almost unlimited, and the distributed and low-cost computing power solution provided by DePIN is expected to be the key to solving this bottleneck. For example, with the popularization of AI applications such as large language models, the demand for edge computing and distributed AI computing power will become more urgent, and DePIN can just meet these needs.
Behind this surge is the growing demand for decentralized solutions in industries such as telecommunications, energy, and AI, which are facing transformation.
Of course, DePIN also faces some challenges:
Regulation: The regulatory policies of various governments on cryptocurrencies and decentralized networks are still unclear, which may bring some uncertainty to the development of DePIN.
User habits: It takes time and education for users to switch from the familiar centralized system to the new DePIN network. Improving user experience is very important.
Security issues: The security of smart contracts is critical, as any vulnerability may result in loss of user assets. In addition, the physical infrastructure itself may also face security risks.
Interoperability between different projects: There is currently a lack of unified standards between different DePIN projects, which may limit the development of the entire ecosystem.
Projects like Grass address privacy issues by using technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs, and Helium's collaboration with traditional telecom operators also shows that DePIN is being accepted by the wider industry - these are all signs that DePIN is working hard to overcome these challenges. At the same time, the industry is also actively exploring DePIN standards and protocols to promote interoperability between different projects.
05
summary
In general, DePIN is expected to occupy an important position in 2025 because it cleverly combines the decentralization, transparency and incentive mechanism of blockchain with the urgent need for physical infrastructure in the real world. Especially in terms of AI computing power sharing, pioneers such as Render Network and Grass are exploring new possibilities and are expected to break the monopoly of traditional centralized computing giants.
This is not only a technological innovation, but also a profound change in the traditional way of resource allocation. Pioneers such as Filecoin, Helium, Grass, Render, etc. are depicting a more open, efficient and inclusive decentralized future for us through practical applications and continuous innovation. In this future, everyone has the opportunity to become a contributor and beneficiary of infrastructure, and the idle resources in our daily lives will also release huge value.
The Web3 revolution driven by DePIN has just begun. With the continuous maturity of technology and the improvement of the ecosystem, we have reason to believe that DePIN will play an increasingly important role in the future digital economy, especially in the field of AI computing power. So, who will eventually lead this new competition of AI computing power sharing? Let us wait and see.
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Source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/r-ZiPvodWqx4eoAABpgk1A
