DePIN 2025 Wrapped ⏪

2024 was the spark.
2025 was the reset.

> Narrative Leader : $TAO

> KEY PRICE MOVES

$QRL +324%
$ZBCN +206%
$RENDER -88%
$ANYONE -84%
$PEAQ -94%

> SOCIAL DOMINANCE

$TAO
$ICP
$TRAC
$HNT
$QRL
$AKT
$GEOD

> NEW LAUNCHES IN 2025

XPIN
ROVR
ICNT
WAL
AO
BLESS
0G

> STORAGE, IoT & VPN SHARE

- Storage dominated the DePIN stack
- IoT maintained steady participation
- VPN-related networks stayed niche but consistent

What happened to DePIN in 2025

DePIN had a very different year compared to the hype-driven surge of 2024.

After explosive growth fueled by AI narratives, GPU demand, and decentralized infrastructure promises, the sector naturally cooled in 2025.

Prices corrected hard, attention rotated elsewhere, and the market started separating hype from execution.

That slowdown does not mean progress stopped.

• 2024 was about discovery.

AI plus DePIN became a powerful story almost overnight. Hardware networks, compute, storage, and bandwidth tokens ran far ahead of what infrastructure could realistically support at scale.

• 2025 was about digestion.

Deployments slowed, incentives normalized, and projects shifted focus from token velocity to real-world usage. This phase looked boring on charts, but it was necessary.

• Fundamentals quietly improved.

New launches focused on data collection, geospatial mapping, bandwidth coordination, and decentralized compute orchestration. These are not flashy narratives, but they are core building blocks.

• DePIN became a backend narrative.

Instead of being a standalone hype cycle, DePIN started positioning itself as infrastructure for DePAI, AI training pipelines, and real-time data networks.

Why DePIN still matters for 2026

DePIN is no longer about quick multiples.
It is about utility, scale, and integration.

As AI models demand more decentralized data, compute, and physical coordination, DePIN networks quietly become indispensable.