For the last decade, we have accepted a strange bargain with the internet. We buy the hardware, we pay the electricity bills, we maintain the connections… and trillion-dollar corporations reap all the value. You install a security camera, and Amazon owns the footage. You buy a router, and Comcast rents you the IP address. You drive your car, Google monetises your location data.
We have been building the physical infrastructure of the digital age at our own expense, acting as unpaid interns for Big Tech.
But in 2025, the script flipped. A quiet revolution known as DePIN — Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks — began turning everyday hardware into sovereign economic assets. It sounds complex, but the premise is radically simple: what if the people who build the network actually own it?
The Airbnb of Everything (Except It’s Actually Decentralised)
Imagine if Airbnb didn’t just let you rent out a spare room, but let you own a piece of the entire hospitality industry just by keeping the lights on. That is the DePIN model.
It starts with the devices you already ignore.
Take your WiFi router. In a traditional model, it sits in the corner gathering dust, blinking silently while you pay $80 a month for access. In the DePIN model, specifically with networks like Helium Mobile, that same hotspot becomes a micro-cell tower. It broadcasts coverage to neighbours and passersby. When their phones connect to your signal, the network pays you. Not in loyalty points or coupons, but in liquid assets.
This isn’t theoretical. By late 2025, Helium Mobile had amassed over 130,000 subscribers, not by building massive towers, but by convincing normal people to put small boxes in their windows. They built a 5G network faster and cheaper than AT&T ever could because they didn’t have to buy land or hire construction crews. They just crowdsourced it to you.
Mapping the World, One Commute at a Time
The disruption extends far beyond connectivity. Consider the maps on your phone.
Google Maps is a marvel, but it is expensive to maintain. Google sends fleets of Street View cars driving around the world, burning gas and money. Consequently, some roads haven’t been updated in years.
Enter Hivemapper.
Instead of a fleet of corporate cars, Hivemapper sells dashcams to regular drivers — Uber drivers, delivery trucks, and commuters. These cameras automatically map the roads as people drive. The data is fresher, cheaper, and more comprehensive than anything a centralised company can produce. In return, the drivers earn tokens for every mile they map.
It is the ultimate efficiency hack: capitalising on “exhaust data.” You were going to drive to work anyway. You were going to emit that location data anyway. DePIN simply captures that value and redirects it back to your wallet instead of a corporate server farm.
The Compute Crunch and the Gaming Saviour
Perhaps the most explosive application of DePIN sits at the intersection of gaming and AI.
We are currently in a “compute crunch.” The AI boom has made high-end GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) scarcer than gold. Startups can’t train their models because they can’t rent enough Nvidia chips from AWS or Azure.
Meanwhile, millions of powerful gaming PCs sit idle in bedrooms around the world, their fans spinning while their owners sleep or work.
The Render Network connects these two groups. It allows a 3D artist in London to “rent” the idle GPU power of a gamer in Tokyo to render a complex scene. The gamer gets paid for their hardware’s downtime; the artist gets their render done for a fraction of the cost of a centralised cloud farm.
This is the “sharing economy” finally living up to its name. It’s not just sharing a ride; it’s sharing the fundamental computational fabric of the modern world.
Why Now? The Perfect Storm of 2025
Why didn’t this happen sooner? Why is 2025 the breakout year for DePIN?
Three technologies collided at the exact right moment.
First, blockchain has matured. We finally moved past the “casino phase” of crypto into the “utility phase.” Blockchains like Solana became fast and cheap enough to handle millions of micro-transactions — like paying someone a fraction of a cent for a few megabytes of data.
Second, hardware got cheap. Sensors, cameras, and transceivers dropped in price while increasing in capability. You can now buy a professional-grade environmental sensor or a high-fidelity dashcam for the price of a pair of sneakers.
Third, trust collapsed. People are tired of rent-seeking monopolies. We have watched streaming services hike prices while removing content. We have seen ISPs throttle speeds while taking government subsidies. The appetite for an alternative — a network owned by “us” rather than “them” — has never been higher.
The Human Side of Hardware
The most fascinating part of DePIN isn’t the technology; it’s the behaviour change.
A user in rural Ohio set up a weather station for a DePIN network called WeatherXM. He isn’t a crypto trader. He’s a farmer. He wanted hyper-local weather data for his crops, but he also loved the idea that his little station was contributing to a global climate model. The daily token rewards were just a bonus — a way to pay for the internet connection.
“It feels like I’m farming data,”. “I plant the sensor, I tend to it, and it yields a harvest.”
This shift in perspective — from consumer to producer, from user to owner — is profound. It restores a sense of agency that we lost when the internet became corporate. It turns “passive income” from a scammy YouTube ad buzzword into a tangible reality involving screwdrivers and ethernet cables.
The Roadblocks Ahead
Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing.
Physical infrastructure is hard. Software bugs can be fixed with a patch; hardware failures require a soldering iron or a shipping label. If a DePIN network scales too fast, the supply chain for devices can choke. If it grows too slow, the network effects never kick in, and the early adopters are left with expensive paperweights.
Regulation hangs like a dark cloud. Telecoms and utility companies have deep pockets and powerful lobbyists. They won’t give up their monopolies without a fight. We are already seeing battles over zoning laws for antennas and “right of way” disputes for sensors.
And yes, the token incentives are volatile. The value of the rewards fluctuates with the market. This introduces a layer of financial risk that doesn’t exist with a steady paycheck. It requires a mindset shift: you aren’t an employee; you are a micro-entrepreneur.
The Machine Economy Arrives
Despite the risks, the momentum is undeniable. The World Economic Forum projects DePIN will be a $3.5 trillion sector by 2028. Venture capital firms like a16z are pouring billions into the space, calling it the year crypto goes mainstream.
But the real proof is on the streets. Look up. You might see a strange little antenna on your neighbour’s roof. Look at the dashboard of the Uber you just took; that might be a Hivemapper camera.
We are building a parallel internet, one device at a time. It is messier, louder, and more chaotic than the corporate version. But it is also more resilient, more equitable, and more human.
For the first time in history, the infrastructure of the world is open for ownership. You just have to decide if you want to plug in.