Decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePIN, may have fallen out of favor with investors, but a new report suggests the sector has been quietly compounding real-world revenue while much of the market looked elsewhere.
According to the “State of DePIN 2025” report from Messari and Escape Velocity, the DePIN sector has grown into a roughly $10 billion market, generating about $72 million in onchain revenue over the past year. That progress comes despite steep drawdowns in token prices, with many DePIN assets still trading far below their previous highs.
Messari notes that tokens launched between 2018 and 2022 are down between 94% and 99% from peak valuations. Yet a subset of mature projects now shows verifiable recurring revenue and trades at revenue multiples of roughly 10x to 25x — levels the firm describes as modest given current growth rates.
DePIN class of 2018-2022. Source: Messari
From incentives to real usage
The report frames the shift as a transition away from subsidy-driven expansion toward networks that earn revenue through real-world demand. Bandwidth, compute, energy and sensor data are among the leading use cases where DePIN projects are beginning to resemble operating infrastructure businesses rather than speculative crypto experiments.
Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO, said the sector’s evolution has changed how success should be measured. He argued that revenue and usage matter more than token price, especially as markets mature.
“As DePIN matures, valuations are starting to reflect real economic activity that holds up even when token prices are flat,” Levin told Cointelegraph.
A different cycle than 2021
Messari contrasts the current landscape with the previous bull cycle, describing “DePIN 2021” as an era dominated by pre-revenue networks, heavy token inflation and growth driven largely by incentives and speculation.
By comparison, today’s leading DePIN projects generate onchain revenue, often operate with minimal supply inflation and rely on cost advantages and utility to attract users. Levin said this makes DePIN structurally different from much of the crypto market, where speculative price action often leads fundamentals.
“In DePIN, success shows up first in usage and cash flow, not in token price,” he said.
Revenue resilience stands out
Messari’s DePIN Leaders Index highlights 15 projects across sectors such as bandwidth, compute, energy and sensors that meet thresholds including at least $500,000 in annual recurring revenue and $30 million in cumulative funding.
One of the report’s key findings is that DePIN revenue growth has been more resilient than decentralized finance and layer-1 blockchains during the recent downturn. While tokens like Helium and GEODNET saw prices fall sharply between late 2024 and late 2025, their onchain revenues rose significantly over the same period. That contrasts with declining revenues across many major DeFi protocols and smart contract platforms.
Levin said the critical distinction across DePIN verticals is whether a network can earn money from real customers without relying continuously on incentives. Some areas, including positioning, mapping and robotics, are showing repeat usage, while others remain constrained by regulation or competition.
DePIN growth more resilient than DeFi and L1s. Source: Messari
InfraFi emerges as a new model
Funding activity also picked up. Messari estimates that DePIN projects raised roughly $1 billion in 2025, an all-time high for the sector and well above the $698 million raised in 2024.
The report highlights the emergence of “InfraFi,” a hybrid model that blends DePIN and DeFi by allowing stablecoin holders to finance real-world infrastructure and earn yield from those assets. Projects such as USDai, Daylight and Dawn are cited as early examples, with USDai reportedly attracting around $685 million in deposits to fund GPU infrastructure.
Messari argues that many DePIN tokens now resemble next-generation infrastructure companies in areas like bandwidth, storage and compute, yet are priced as if long-term survival is unlikely.
According to Levin, the networks best positioned to benefit are those capable of reliably serving enterprise customers and meeting growing demand from artificial intelligence-driven workloads.