As Web3 technologies continue to evolve, one of the most exciting trends of 2025 is the rise of DePIN – Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks.
These projects combine real-world infrastructure with blockchain, allowing everyday users to contribute resources like storage, computing power, and connectivity in exchange for crypto rewards.
Unlike traditional platforms run by centralized companies, DePINs offer open, community-powered systems that are transparent, efficient, and often more affordable.
In this article, we explore the top five DePIN projects reshaping real-world services through decentralisation and helping users earn while supporting next-generation infrastructure.
What is DePIN?
DePINs are blockchain-based networks that rely on individual contributions of physical infrastructure – such as sensors, routers, cameras, or solar panels – instead of corporate-owned systems. Services, payments, and data are all managed on-chain.
Each network consists of three layers: physical infrastructure (e.g., a WiFi hotspot), middleware that connects devices to the blockchain, and the blockchain itself, which tracks usage and automates payments. Users join and interact with these networks without needing permission.
There are two main types: Physical Resource Networks (PRNs), involving fixed-location hardware like wireless networks or energy grids, and Digital Resource Networks (DRNs), which handle non-location-bound services such as cloud storage or computing power.
Projects like Helium, Hivemapper, and Natix highlight how this model can transform industries by rewarding participation and removing central intermediaries. The result is a system that is fairer, more accessible, and driven by blockchain’s core values of decentralisation and transparency.
Top 5 DePIN Projects
Here are the most valuable DePIN projects of 2025:
Render
Render is a decentralized platform that connects those needing GPU (graphics processing unit) power with users who have it to spare. It enables digital artists, game developers, and creators to complete intensive tasks like 3D rendering, motion graphics, and virtual reality more efficiently.
Users rent out unused GPU power and receive RENDER tokens as payment. Originally built on Ethereum, the network moved to Solana in 2023 for faster and cheaper transactions.
It uses a burn-and-mint model where most used tokens are destroyed, and new ones are minted as rewards for providers. Render makes rendering more affordable while letting GPU owners earn passively from idle hardware.
Filecoin
Filecoin creates a decentralised global marketplace for file storage. Instead of relying on cloud giants like Dropbox or Amazon Web Services, it uses a network of independent miners offering spare storage on their machines. Users pay them in FIL tokens to store, retrieve, or distribute data.
The project, developed by Protocol Labs (also behind IPFS), uses Proof-of-Replication and Proof-of-Spacetime to ensure miners are actually holding data over time. Prices are set by open competition, lowering costs. Filecoin also allows participants to earn as Retrieval Miners by helping deliver files quickly, improving overall network speed and efficiency.
Helium
Helium is a decentralised wireless network designed for IoT (Internet of Things) connectivity. Users deploy hotspots that act as network nodes, providing coverage via LoRaWAN, a low-power, long-range wireless protocol. In return, they earn HNT, Helium’s native cryptocurrency.
The network uses a unique consensus system called Proof-of-Coverage to verify real-world service. It has since expanded into mobile connectivity with Helium Mobile and migrated to Solana for better scalability. While the network faced criticism for early mining centralisation and declining rewards, it remains a notable example of blockchain-powered infrastructure in action.
IOTA
IOTA is a distributed ledger built for IoT, but instead of using a traditional blockchain, it runs on the Tangle – a directed acyclic graph (DAG). This allows feeless, scalable transactions validated by users themselves. To send a transaction, one must first verify two others, making the network faster as more users join.
IOTA is highly energy-efficient – millions of transactions can use the same energy as a single Bitcoin transaction. Its smallest unit is an IOTA, with prices typically displayed in MIOTA (1 million IOTA). Although the network still relies on a central “coordinator” for security, the goal is full decentralisation as it matures.
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is one of the earliest examples of decentralised technology. It enables peer-to-peer file sharing by allowing users to download and upload pieces of files directly to and from each other. In 2018, the Tron Foundation acquired BitTorrent and introduced the BTT token to incentivise participation.
BTT, which runs on the Tron blockchain, allows users to pay for faster downloads and storage. BitTorrent also offers decentralised applications like BitTorrent Speed and the BitTorrent File System (BTFS), supporting decentralised content storage. It brings blockchain benefits – like transparency and token incentives – to one of the internet’s most established file-sharing platforms.
Closing Thoughts
DePIN projects like Render, Filecoin, Helium, IOTA, and BitTorrent prove that blockchain isn’t limited to digital tokens – it can build real-world systems that work better, faster, and fairer. These platforms let users earn crypto for offering resources such as storage, computing power, or connectivity, giving everyone a stake in the future of infrastructure.
With decentralisation at their core, these projects are creating new opportunities for creators, developers, and everyday users alike. As 2025 unfolds, DePIN represents one of the most promising frontiers in Web3 – bridging the digital and physical worlds through blockchain innovation.
