2025-12-27 17:24:06

2024 will be the year of explosive growth for DePIN, but 2025 will become its reset period.

To sum it up in one sentence—$TAO has secured its position as the narrative leader, while other projects are quietly seeking true value.

Just look at this year's report card. $QRL soared 324%, $ZBCN increased 206%, but at the same time, $RENDER dropped as much as 88%, $ANYONE fell 84%, and $PEAQ was cut in half by 94%. Social media buzz is concentrated around major projects like $TAO, $ICP, $TRAC, and $HNT, while newly launched projects such as XPIN, ROVR, ICNT, WAL, AO, BLESS, and 0G are all quietly developing.

Interestingly, storage, IoT, and VPN sharing are the three directions supporting the entire DePIN ecosystem. Storage remains the core of the stack, IoT maintains stable interest, and VPN, though niche, continues to evolve.

The wild growth driven by AI narratives and GPU demand in 2024 naturally cooled down in 2025. The market is beginning to distinguish between hype and genuine execution. Price corrections and shifting attention seem unfavorable, but they actually reflect industry maturity.

Slower pace ≠ halted progress. The keyword for 2024 is "discovery"—a surge in demand for hardware networks, computing, storage, and bandwidth. In 2025, it shifts to "digestion"—slower deployment, rationalized incentive mechanisms, projects no longer recklessly issuing tokens, and starting to refine real applications. The charts may look dull, but these are necessary adjustments.

The quietly improving fundamentals are more worth paying attention to. New products focus on data collection, geospatial mapping, bandwidth coordination, and decentralized computing orchestration—sounds less glamorous but are the foundational components supporting everything.

The identity of DePIN is also quietly changing. It is no longer an isolated hype cycle but evolving into the foundational layer for DePAI, AI training pipelines, and real-time data networks.

Looking ahead to 2026, DePIN is no longer a quick double-up chip. Its value lies in practicality, scale effects, and integration potential. As AI models increasingly demand decentralized data, computing resources, and physical coordination, DePIN networks are silently transforming into indispensable infrastructure—that is the long-term logic.

TAO4,01%

ZBCN-2,95%

PEAQ2,8%

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BasementAlchemist

· 14h ago

88% decline haha, this is reality. Last year, those who were chasing the hype wildly, where are they now? TAO alone is well-fed, everyone else is just blowing hot air. This wave of differentiation is real and intense. Storage is the way to go. Don't be fooled by those flashy new projects. Wait, what about the promised fundamental improvements? Why does it still feel like just storytelling?

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ForkItAllDay

· 14h ago

Tao has really stabilized, while everything else is a mess. Render dropped 88%, PEAQ halved, who can withstand this? The storage direction is pretty good, but we have to wait until AI is really put into use.

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ETH_Maxi_Taxi

· 14h ago

Tao wins big, other projects should learn to accept reality, haha --- Rendering dropping 88% and still surviving is really not easy, I respect that --- It's the same old "adjustment is necessary" routine, sounds like comforting oneself for being trapped --- I believe in depin as infrastructure, but only if it can actually be used, otherwise it's just another air coin feast --- I'm optimistic about the stability of the storage direction, others can wait and see for now --- Year 24 hype, Year 25 construction, this kind of rhetoric happens every year, let's see how long it can last --- Tao's monopoly situation is a bit awkward, what about ecological diversity? --- It's also good for new projects to develop quietly, to avoid being cut again --- Basically, no one is trading anymore, no matter how good the fundamentals are, it's hard to support the coin price --- The Internet of Things sector does have potential, but VPM is actually being overlooked --- Will AI really need to use depin, or is it just another round of hype?

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wagmi_eventually

· 14h ago

TAO dominates alone, while other projects are struggling to survive. This is the current state of DePIN in 2025. Still the same saying, once the hype subsides, the fundamentals reveal their true nature. Everyone is starting to focus on real stuff. The storage sector has indeed been quietly accumulating all along. No attention from others makes it feel more solid. RENDER fell from the sky. Looking back now, it’s quite heartbreaking... but it’s also deserved. Projects that only hype without doing any work should be cleared out. I agree with the logic that DePIN is becoming infrastructure. In the long run, it’s like an invisible underlying water pipe—not very glamorous but indispensable to everyone.

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ExpectationFarmer

· 14h ago

TAO has really stabilized, while other projects are struggling at the application layer. To put it simply, the hype from last year has faded, and this year it's about who is truly building. RENDER plummeted 88%, which is a bit harsh, but it's also quite normal—bubbles have to burst. Storage is the real king; there's no suspense about this direction.

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