DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) once again became the focus of the cryptocurrency market, with Helium’s ecosystem tokens MOBILE, IOT, and HNT all experiencing gains of over 100%. Additionally, Streamer Network’s DATA token surged by 86.75% in the past 24 hours.
Currently, the cryptocurrency market seems to have shifted its attention to the DePIN race track. DePIN utilizes blockchain technology to allow participants to deploy hardware devices without permission or trust, thus providing real-world services or digital resources. To incentivize user participation, project teams typically issue tokens as rewards.
According to a report from Messari in July, DePIN covers areas such as server networks, wireless networks, sensor networks, and energy networks. The report also indicates that DePIN’s potential market value is currently around $2.2 trillion and is expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2028.
Helium Mobile is a prominent example within the DePIN race track. It is a decentralized 5G telecommunications service launched this year by the decentralized wireless network protocol Helium. The native token of Helium Mobile, MOBILE, is used to reward users for sharing location information and assisting in determining the optimal deployment locations for new hotspots, thereby improving and expanding the coverage of the Helium wireless network. Additionally, Helium’s native token HNT is the only token used for network data transmission payments. This year, Helium also introduced another new token, IOT, which rewards the operation of network nodes.
In the CoinGecko DePIN race track, MOBILE, IOT, and HNT ranked 1st, 6th, and 7th, respectively, in the past 7 days’ gain leaderboard, demonstrating outstanding performance.
However, the risks associated with these emerging projects should not be ignored. dForce founder Yang Mindao recently stated on X that Mobile faces risks including regulation (communication in most countries is subject to the highest level of regulation) and the possibility of discontinuing collaboration with Tmobile.
Streamer Network’s DATA token has shown impressive performance recently, surging by 86.75% within the past 24 hours and over 215% in the past 7 days, reaching a peak of $0.095 before experiencing a slight decline. The current price is temporarily reported as $0.089.
Streamer Network is a decentralized real-time data infrastructure that aims to replace traditional centralized messaging applications such as Apache Kafka and RabbitMQ. It has established a global peer-to-peer network based on topic-based publish (providing) and subscribe (receiving) systems, where topics refer to specific content or categories of data streams, such as data from IoT devices, machines, or smart devices. Each data stream or topic has its own peer coverage network established and maintained by trackers similar to BitTorrent.
Streamr Network addresses the decentralized demand for data provision and reception, offering end-to-end encryption to protect private data and supporting user identity verification using Ethereum addresses and private keys. Furthermore, it supports data monetization, enabling users to profit from buying and selling data, and earn DATA tokens by running Streamr nodes, thereby contributing to network protection and expansion.
Wise Advice, an internet user, pointed out that the recent surge in the price of DATA tokens is related to Streamr’s announcement of Streamr 1.0, which focuses on achieving full decentralization and creating a data brokerage market, expected to enhance the utility of DATA tokens.
Overall, the DePIN race track is expected to address significant issues regarding the decentralized nature of blockchain. Although blockchain is characterized by globally distributed node operations and decentralized mechanisms, in practice, the hardware and software infrastructure on which these node operations depend are often controlled by a few service providers, creating a contradiction to the principle of decentralization.
The significance of the DePIN race track lies precisely in this, as it provides a truly decentralized solution through the construction of a decentralized physical infrastructure, thereby strengthening the decentralization and independence of the entire blockchain ecosystem.
However, DePIN is a narrative with a long history, and whether it can continue to thrive and achieve the market size target of approximately $3.5 trillion predicted by Messari for 2028 still requires ongoing attention.
Related Reports
What is DePIN? The new data economy led by decentralized hardware.
Is DePIN the dark horse in the next round of Web3? Hear what leading projects have to say.
Drive to earn? In-depth analysis of the Dimo project’s business model in the DePIN race track.
Tags:
Data
Helium
Helium Mobile
HNT
iot
MOBILE
Streamer Network