Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) combine blockchain with physical infrastructure. Currently, DePIN exists in industries such as energy, telecommunications, storage, artificial intelligence, and data collection.

During the last crypto cycle, many projects targeted market opportunities with the DePIN boom, but when their core products failed to gain sufficient traction on both the supply and demand sides, they turned to cryptocurrency token economics.

However, among the projects that survived, several companies spent time building infrastructure. They achieved sustainable profitability by solving existing problems, even without relying on the token economy’s flywheel effect. Let’s take a look at some of these examples.

Geodnet

Core Problem Solved Traditional Global Positioning Systems (GPS) often lack the precision required for advanced applications, which demand centimeter-level accuracy instead of meter-level. Geodnet’s network solution increases positioning accuracy by 100 times compared to traditional GPS technologies.

Target Customers Geodnet services industries that rely on high-precision geospatial data, including:

• Autonomous Vehicles
• Agriculture
• Smart Cities
• Defense and Security
• Space Exploration

Business Model

• Data Licensing: Selling geospatial data to commercial customers.
• Node Participation Fees: Fees associated with the installation and usage of mining machines.
• Partnerships: Collaborating with industries like agriculture and autonomous driving systems to integrate Geodnet’s services into existing workflows.

In 2024, Geodnet reported a year-over-year revenue growth of over 500%, reaching $1.7 million.

Token Economics Geodnet uses its native token, GEOD, to incentivize participants:

• Miners earn tokens based on their data contributions and network uptime.
• Burn Mechanism: Tokens are burned during data transactions to introduce a deflationary effect.
• Daily Earnings: Miners earn approximately $4.30 per day, with an expected return-on-investment period of 3 to 4 months.
• Liquidity: Token distribution ensures liquidity and incentivizes early adopters.
• Token Uses: Tokens are used for payments, staking, and governance within the network.

How to Participate and Contribute

1. Become a Miner:
   • Purchase mining equipment (costing between $500 and $700).
   • Set up and connect the mining device to the network, uploading 20-40GB of data per month.
2. Use the Network:
   • Subscribe or directly purchase access to real-time kinematic (RTK) correction data.
3. Develop Applications:
   • Develop software for specific industries based on Geodnet’s data.
4. Governance:
   • Participate in protocol governance by staking GEOD tokens and voting on proposals.

Helium

Core Problem Solved Traditional mobile network operators (such as T-Mobile) require huge capital expenditures to build base stations, maintain infrastructure, and expand coverage. Helium addresses this issue by creating a decentralized wireless network that leverages community-owned hotspots to provide affordable, scalable, and resilient network connectivity for mobile and IoT devices.

Target Customers

• Consumers: Pay $20 per month for unlimited data through the Helium decentralized network.
• Telecom Providers: Enable Wi-Fi offloading for major operators, reducing infrastructure costs.
• IoT Device Manufacturers: Provide connectivity for low-power IoT devices using the LoRaWAN protocol.
• Enterprises and Institutions: Help organizations deploy dedicated wireless networks for asset tracking, sensors, and environmental monitoring.

Business Model Helium generates revenue through two main channels:

1. Consumer Mobile Plans:
   • Offer a $20/month unlimited data plan, allowing users to access both the Helium network hotspots and partner networks (such as T-Mobile).
2. Carrier Wi-Fi Offloading Fees:
   • Charge telecom providers $0.50 per GB, enabling them to offload data traffic via Helium’s decentralized hotspots instead of traditional base stations.

Financial Performance

• Subscribers: Over 100,000 direct subscribers and more than 300,000 indirect Wi-Fi offloading users.
• Revenue: Generates seven-figure annual revenue from mobile subscriptions and carrier offloading fees.
• Forecast: As carrier partnerships expand, the potential annual revenue from Wi-Fi offloading alone could exceed $50 million.

Token Economics Helium’s HNT token is central to its incentive and payment structure:

• Earning Rewards: Hotspot operators earn HNT by providing coverage and transmitting data.
• Uses: Tokens are used for network transactions, paying for network services, and governance proposals.
• Burn Mechanism: When HNT tokens are used to pay for network services, they are burned, reducing the supply.

How to Participate and Contribute

1. Deploy Hotspots:
   • Purchase and set up a hotspot compatible with the Helium network to provide coverage and earn HNT rewards.
   • Choose from 16 approved hardware types designed for IoT or mobile offloading.
2. Consumer Plans:
   • Subscribe to Helium’s $20/month mobile plan for affordable mobile data coverage.
3. Carrier Partnerships:
   • Telecom providers can integrate with the Helium network, offloading data traffic to reduce operational costs.
4. Governance and Staking:
   • Stake HNT tokens to participate in network governance, propose suggestions, and vote on critical upgrades.

Akash

Core Problem Solved The Akash network aims to address the high costs, scalability limitations, and centralization issues of traditional cloud computing providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. It does so by providing a decentralized cloud computing marketplace that allows users to profit from idle machines while reducing costs.

Target Customers

• AI Developers: Require high-performance GPUs to train and deploy machine learning models.
• Startups and Enterprises: Need affordable and scalable cloud computing to support data processing, storage, and AI-driven applications.

Business Model The Akash network generates revenue through the following means:

• Marketplace Transaction Fees: Charging transaction fees on compute leases and payments processed through the network.
• Compute Resource Leasing: Earning a share of revenue from the leasing of GPUs and CPUs used for AI training and workloads.
• Developer Tools: Charging API integration and SDK licensing fees from developers using its computing infrastructure.
• Enterprise Partnerships: Expanding compute capacity through collaborations with AI labs and decentralized platforms.

Financial Performance

• Annual Revenue: Akash reported $2.5 million in revenue from compute leasing and fees in 2024.
• Growth Rate: Due to the rise of AI, the demand for GPU compute resources grew by 33 times.
• Network Scale: The network supports over 400 GPUs.

Token Economics The Akash network uses the AKT token for payments, governance, and incentives.

1. Uses:
   • Payments: Buyers use AKT tokens to purchase compute resources.
   • Staking: Providers stake tokens to gain work opportunities and improve their reputation.
2. Incentives:
   • Providers earn AKT tokens by supplying compute resources.
   • Tokens are distributed based on uptime, performance, and task completion.
3. Governance:
   • Token holders can propose upgrades and vote on protocol changes.
4. Burn Mechanism:
   • Network fees are burned, reducing the token supply.

How to Participate and Contribute

1. As a Provider:
   • Set up GPU, CPU, or storage servers on the Akash network.
   • List resources, set prices, and start earning AKT tokens.
2. As a Consumer:
   • Use the Akash network’s web interface or command-line interface (CLI) to lease compute resources.
   • Deploy AI training workloads, web services, and decentralized applications.
3. As a Developer:
   • Access APIs and SDKs to integrate Akash network services into applications.
   • Utilize GPU clusters for deep learning training or inference tasks.
4. Governance Participation:
   • Stake AKT tokens to vote on network upgrades and resource pricing policies.

Looking Ahead

The above are just a small subset of effective projects with sustainable revenue. In the coming months, the acceptance of DePIN will undoubtedly rise once again, giving birth to more sustainable, scalable, and profitable companies.

The companies mentioned above are all consumer-facing, but another area that excites me is infrastructure. The sectors that will benefit from the development of DePIN projects include underlying blockchains, oracle services, smart contract services, middleware, token issuance services, and more. Some examples of such companies include Solana, Peaq, Base, Story, Arweave, Opacity Network, and DeForm.

Disclaimer:

1. This article is reprinted from [blockbeats]. All copyrights belong to the original author [Paul Veradittakit, Partner at Pantera Capital]. If there are any objections to the reprint, please contact the Gate Learn team, and the team will process it according to the relevant procedures.
2. Liability Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not constitute investment advice.
3. The Gate Learn team translated the article into other languages. Copying, distributing, or plagiarizing the translated articles is prohibited unless mentioned.