Decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs) have shifted from skepticism to momentum, with the State of DePIN 2025 report placing the sector at a $10 billion market and noting $72 million in on-chain revenue last year. Despite a steep slide in the early token cycles, these projects are now delivering verifiable recurring revenue and trading at revenue multiples that Messari calls undervalued given growth trajectories. The report frames the shift as a move from subsidy-driven growth to networks that monetize real-world usage across bandwidth, compute, energy and sensor data. Levin, co-founder of XYO, says revenue matters more than token prices, and valuations are beginning to reflect actual economic activity even when token prices are flat.
The analysis contrasts DePIN 2021 with DePIN 2025, noting early cycles were dominated by pre-revenue networks with high token inflation and retail-driven valuations, whereas current leaders generate on-chain revenue with little inflation and growth driven by utility and cost advantages. InfraFi is highlighted as an emerging DePIN/DeFi hybrid model in which stablecoins fund real-world infrastructure and yield is earned from those assets, with USDai, Daylight and Dawn cited as early InfraFi examples in compute, energy and bandwidth. The report also notes that the best DePIN tokens resemble next-generation infrastructure businesses in bandwidth, storage, compute and sensing, yet trade at prices suggesting limited survival chances. Analysts say the networks most likely to capitalize will be those that can reliably serve enterprise and AI-driven demand sectors.
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