DePIN’s $1 Billion Bet Meets Harsh Reality: Just $72M in On-Chain Revenue

Billions in venture capital flood the DePIN sector, chasing the dream of decentralized infrastructure—but the on-chain numbers tell a different story.

The Funding Frenzy vs. The Revenue Reality

Investors poured a cool billion into DePIN projects last year, betting big on a future where everything from wireless networks to cloud storage runs on decentralized protocols. The hype was palpable, the roadmaps ambitious. Yet, when you cut through the noise and look at the blockchain itself—the immutable ledger that doesn't lie—the sector generated a mere $72 million in on-chain revenue. That's a staggering gap between investment and tangible, protocol-level income.

Where's the User Adoption?

The core promise of DePIN is to build real-world, useful infrastructure that people actually pay to use. The funding suggests builders are getting paid handsomely to construct this future. But the revenue figure raises the uncomfortable question: are the users showing up? It's the classic tech dilemma—you can build it, but that doesn't guarantee they'll come, at least not with their crypto wallets open.

Speculation or Utility?

A cynical Wall Street veteran might smirk and call it 'VC theater'—another round of sophisticated money chasing a narrative, hoping the next greater fool buys the token before asking how the business makes money. The real work for DePIN now isn't raising more capital; it's converting that capital into networks people can't live without. Until then, the sector remains a billion-dollar experiment with a $72 million receipt. The clock is ticking to prove this isn't just infrastructure for infrastructure's sake.

According to Messari, this protocol-level, blockchain-recorded revenue comes from real network usage, fees and incentives, all factors that indicate the sector is providing real utility and is no longer stuck at the speculation or experimental stage.

How did the DePIN sector do in 2025?

The report shows that in 2025, the DePIN sector raised nearly $1 billion in capital across a total of 91 rounds, fewer than the number it took to raise the almost $700 million it achieved in 2024. The most notable project raised $140 million in funding, almost double what the next best project attracted. 

Also, the data showed that a small but growing group of DePIN networks saw persistent on-chain revenue growth even during times when the overall market was not doing so well. As far as Messari is concerned, this is proof that DePIN projects fare better in bear markets than regular alt projects and L1s.

The top-ranked networks that see meaningful traffic were the biggest evidence of the sector’s resilience, as their revenues grew independently of the broader market price action. 

In 2025, the report also claims that the DePIN networks currently generating revenue are being traded at 10 to 25x revenue multiples, which is a far cry from the state of things in 2021, when similar networks WOULD exceed 1,000x revenue multiples during peak speculation.

The resilience of these leading projects has not gone unnoticed, and according to Messari, it indicates that those projects are entering a stage of maturation. However, the report also noted that only a narrow set of scaling paths remains viable for long-term global sustainability.  

Some DePINs are pioneering InfraFi 

According to Messari, there are only three viable paths left when it comes to scaling any DePIN project. Those paths involve adopting InfraFi models, pursuing capex-light designs with their rapid playbacks, or simply timing bull markets and capitalizing on the speculative capital and low interest rates around at the time.

On the more optimistic side, the report also mentioned that some DePIN projects are pioneering InfraFi, which is essentially a combo of DePIN and DeFi. 

InfraFi gives stablecoin holders the ability to earn yield by financing physical infrastructure. All they have to do is deposit and/or stake stablecoins into a vault. Funds in the vault will be used to finance the purchase and/or deployment of infrastructure assets, and the revenues generated or debt accrued by the infrastructure are repaid/paid into the vault. 

At the end of the day, depositors get back their stablecoins as well as a share of the yields. The biggest projects pioneering this include USDai, Daylight, and Dawn, with USDai being the biggest growth driver championing the initiative. 

Messari claims InfraFi is already a key driver of growth for both DeFi and stablecoin players. USDai contributes 17% of Pendle’s TVL, with 3x more liquidity than #2 Ethena. It is also 77% of M0’s TVL, with 10x more distribution than #2 Usual.

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