Pantera Partners: Which DEP projects have real income?

Original author: Paul Veradittakit

Original text compilation: Luffy, Foresight News

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) is the integration of blockchain and infrastructure networks. Currently, DePIN exists in industries such as energy, telecommunications, storage, artificial intelligence, and data collection.

In the last crypto cycle, many projects took advantage of the DePIN craze to target those market opportunities, but when the core product failed to attract enough interest on both the supply and demand sides, they turned to cryptocurrency token economics.

However, among those surviving projects, many companies have spent time building infrastructure, and they have achieved sustainable profitability by solving existing problems, and even without relying on the token economy’s flywheel effect. Let’s take a look at some of these cases.

Geodnet

The Core Issue Solved

Traditional global positioning systems (GPS) typically lack the precision required for advanced applications, which demand centimeter-level accuracy rather than meter-level accuracy. Geodnet network’s solution has improved positioning accuracy by 100 times compared to traditional GPS technology.

Target Customers

Geodnet Network serves industries that rely on high-precision geospatial data, including:

• Autonomous vehicles
• Agriculture
• Smart City
• National Defense and Security
• Space Exploration

Profit Model

• Data authorization: Selling geographic spatial data to commercial customers.
• Node participation fee: The cost associated with the installation and use of mining machines.
• Partnership: Collaborate with industries such as agriculture and autonomous driving systems to integrate Geodnet network services into existing workflows.

In 2024, the Geodnet network reported a year-on-year revenue growth of over 500%, reaching 1.7 million US dollars.

Token Economics

Geodnet network uses native token GEOD to incentivize participants:

• Miners earn tokens based on data contribution and normal network operation time.
• Destruction Mechanism: Tokens are destroyed during data transactions, introducing deflationary mechanism.
• Daily Earnings: The daily average earnings of each miner are about $4.30, with an estimated investment payback period of 3-4 months.
• Circulation: The distribution of tokens ensures liquidity while incentivizing early adopters.
• Token Use: Used for payments, staking, and governance within the network.

Participation and contribution method

1. Become a miner:

• Purchase mining equipment (costs between $500 and $700).
• Set up and connect the mining machine to the network, uploading 20 - 40GB of data per month.

2. Using the Internet:

• Subscribe to or directly purchase access to real-time kinematic (RTK) correction data.

3. Develop Application:

• Software developed for specific industries based on the Geodnet network.

4. Governance:

• Participate in protocol governance by staking GEOD tokens and voting on proposals.

Helium

The core problem solved by ###

Traditional mobile network operators (such as T-Mobile) require massive capital expenditure to build base stations, maintain infrastructure, and expand coverage. Helium solves this problem by creating a decentralized wireless network, which utilizes community-owned hotspots to provide affordable, scalable, and resilient network connectivity for mobile and IoT devices.

Target Customers

• Consumers: Paying $20 per month can use the unlimited data provided by the Helium decentralized network.
• Telecom providers: Implementing WiFi offloading for major carriers to reduce their infrastructure costs.
• IoT device manufacturer: providing connectivity for low-power IoT devices through the LoRaWAN protocol.
• Enterprises and institutions: Help organizations deploy dedicated wireless networks for asset tracking, sensors, and environmental monitoring.

Profit Model

The Helium network generates revenue through two main avenues:

1. Mobile packages directly targeting consumers:

• Provides a $20 unlimited data plan per month, allowing users to simultaneously use the Helium network hotspot and partner networks (such as T-Mobile).

2. Operator WiFi traffic distribution fee:

• Charge telecommunications providers $0.50 per GB to route data through Helium’s decentralized hotspots instead of traditional base stations.

Financial Performance

• Subscribed users: Over 100,000 direct subscribed users and over 300,000 indirect WiFi sharing users.
• Income: Generated seven-figure annualized income from mobile subscriptions and operator revenue sharing fees.
• Prediction: With the expansion of operator partnerships, the potential annual revenue from WiFi offloading alone is expected to exceed $50 million.

Token Economics

The HNT token of the Helium network is at the core of its incentive and payment structure:

• Earning Rewards: Hotspot operators earn HNT by providing coverage and transmitting data.
• Purpose: The token is used for network transactions, payment for network services, and governance proposals.
• Destruction Mechanism: When HNT token is used to pay for network services, it will be destroyed to reduce supply.

Participation and Contribution Methods

1. Hotspot Deployment:

• Purchase and set up a hotspot compatible with the Helium network to provide network coverage and earn HNT rewards.
• Select from 16 approved hardware types designed for IoT or mobile offloading.

2、Consumer Package:

Subscribe to the $20 per month Helium network mobile plan for affordable mobile data coverage.

3, operator partnership relationship:

• Telecommunications providers can integrate with the Helium network to offload data traffic and reduce operating costs.

4、Governance and Staking:

• Stake HNT tokens to participate in network governance, propose suggestions, and vote on key upgrades.

Akash

core issues solved

Akash Network aims to solve the high cost, scalability limitations and centralization issues of traditional cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, etc. It solves these problems by providing a decentralized cloud computing marketplace that allows users to profit from idle machines while reducing costs.

Target Customers

• AI developers: high-performance GPUs are needed to train and deploy machine learning models.
• Startups and enterprises: require affordable and scalable cloud computing to support data processing, storage, and AI-driven applications.

Profit Model

Akash Network generates revenue through the following ways:

• Market trading fees: Charging transaction fees for computing leases and payments processed through the network.
• Computing Resource Rental: Revenue sharing from GPU and CPU rentals for artificial intelligence training and workloads.
• Developer Tools: Charging developers who use its computing infrastructure for API integration and SDK licensing fees.
• Enterprise Partnership: Collaborate with AI labs and decentralized platforms to expand computing power.

Financial Performance

• Annual Revenue: Akash Network reported $2.5 million in revenue from computing leases and fees in 2024.
• Growth rate: Due to the popularity of artificial intelligence, the demand for GPU computing resources has increased 33 times.
• Network size: Supports over 400 GPUs.

Token Economics

The Akash network uses AKT tokens for payment, governance, and incentives.

1. Purpose:

• Payment: Buyers use AKT tokens to purchase computing resources.
• Staking: Provide collateral as a merchant to gain job opportunities and enhance reputation.

2, Incentives:

• The provider earns AKT tokens for supplying computing resources.
• Tokens are distributed based on normal operating time, performance, and task completion.

3. Governance:

• Token holders can propose upgrades and vote on protocol changes.

4、Destruction Mechanism:

• Network fees are destroyed, reducing token supply.

Participation and Contribution Methods

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:

• Rent computing resources using the web interface or command line interface (CLI) of the Akash network.
• Deploy artificial intelligence training workloads, web services, and decentralized applications.

3. As a developer:

• Access API and SDK to integrate Akash Network’s services into your applications.
• Use GPU clusters for deep learning training or inference tasks.

4. Governance participation:

• Staking AKT tokens to vote on network upgrades and resource pricing policies.

Looking to the Future

The above is only a small part of the effective and sustainable revenue-generating projects. In the coming months, the acceptance of DePIN will undoubtedly increase again, leading to more sustainable, scalable, and profitable companies.

The above-mentioned companies are all consumer-facing, but another area that excites me is infrastructure. The areas where these companies are located, such as underlying blockchain, oracle services, smart contract services, middleware, token issuance services, etc., will benefit from the development of the DePIN project. Some examples include Solana, Peaq, Base, Story, Arweave, Opacity Network, and DeForm.