DePin: A Future Infrastructure Project with Huge Potential

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure ( DePin ) projects may not be as eye-catching as public chains, DeFi, or meme coins, but their application scenarios may be more extensive. The uniqueness of DePin projects is mainly reflected in two aspects:

First of all, the business scope and service targets of DePin are very broad. They involve various fields such as cloud computing, cloud rendering, file storage, network hotspots, and even meteorology, and the service targets are not limited to the Web3 industry. For example, a certain AI training and inference platform has provided cloud computing services for many Web2 enterprises. Additionally, a geographic and meteorological data information platform based on GNSS satellite reference stations is providing services for agriculture, engineering, transportation, geology, and other fields.

Secondly, the data for DePin projects is relatively difficult to obtain. Unlike the homogenous characteristics of public chains, DeFi products, or meme coins, there are significant differences among DePin projects, and the main work may not be executed on the blockchain, which often leads to the data in this field being overlooked.

Recently, a cloud computing platform has engaged in deep cooperation with the data analysis company Token Terminal to establish a smart contract tagging registry on the blockchain. This tool can be used to identify various on-chain behaviors and data of the platform and perform standardized calculations. Based on this, we can conduct comparative analysis on several major DePin projects.

DePin Project Data Comparison

From the demand side, we mainly focus on two indicators: protocol fees and protocol revenue.

The protocol fees reflect the ability of the DePin project to create economic value. Data shows that in the past year, a certain cloud computing platform generated a total of $58.7 million in protocol fees, accounting for 5.7% of the infrastructure market. Notably, the protocol fees of this platform show an upward trend and are largely unaffected by the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, primarily due to its main clientele being enterprises in the Web2 sector.

The protocol revenue reflects the net capital inflow and income distribution system of the project. The same platform has accumulated dividends of 22.2 million USD over the past year, with retained protocol revenue of 36.5 million USD.

Compared to other DePin projects, the protocol fees and revenue of this cloud computing platform are leading, even surpassing the once-popular distributed storage projects.

From the supply side, the number of active nodes is an important indicator. In GPU-type DePin projects, a certain cloud computing platform has the highest number of active nodes, far surpassing other similar projects.

In terms of ecological integration, we focus on the number of active addresses on the chain. Data shows that in GPU computing-related DePin projects, the number of active addresses on this cloud computing platform is also leading.

Conclusion

Through comparative analysis, we found that certain DePin projects, especially those focused on GPU computing platforms, may be undervalued. A notable characteristic of such projects is that their revenue primarily comes from areas outside of Web3, making them less correlated with the fluctuations of the cryptocurrency market, and showing a trend of stable growth.

What is even more noteworthy is that this type of DePin project has a revenue model that is very rare in non-Web3 fields. This means that their main revenue model does not rely on the secondary market and may even bring external funding into the cryptocurrency industry. This model not only provides a stable source of income for the projects themselves but also injects new vitality into the development of the entire industry.

With the continuous development and improvement of DePin projects, we have reason to believe that they will play an increasingly important role in the future digital infrastructure construction.