When AI computing power also starts to be "shared", who will become the leader in this new competition?

Author: Santy, Plain Language Blockchain

As AI penetrates every aspect of our lives at an unprecedented speed, the demand for computing power is like an insatiable black hole. Centralized computing power giants are running at full capacity, but a more disruptive force is quietly rising in the Web3 field - DePIN. It not only attempts to reshape traditional storage and networks with token incentives, but also sets its sights on the hot field of AI computing power. Imagine that idle GPU and CPU resources around the world are efficiently connected to provide a steady stream of power for the training and reasoning of AI models.

According to the "DePIN Report" released by Messari at the end of 2024, the DePIN market has maintained a year-on-year growth of more than 120% in the past year, with storage and wireless communication fields continuing to lead. And With the emergence of projects such as Render Network and Grass, we have reason to believe that DePIN is opening a new door to AI computing power sharing.

So, in this new AI competition driven by "shared computing power", who will take the lead in seizing the opportunity and become the real leader? In 2025, how will DePIN break through the existing pattern and play a key role in the AI ​​wave?

01 What is DePIN?

DePIN, the full name is decentralized physical infrastructure network. You can think of it as a new model that transfers the power to manage various physical resources around us - such as computer hard disk storage space, home wireless network, or computing power, etc. - from large companies like Amazon and Verizon to ordinary users around the world. DePIN allows everyone to contribute their idle resources and then get tokens in return.

Imagine a peer-to-peer system without middlemen: the unused hard disk space in your computer can be used to help build a global storage network; the Wi-Fi router in your home can become part of the decentralized Internet. Blockchain technology is like an open and transparent ledger that records everyone's contribution, and uses smart contracts to automatically and securely reward everyone to ensure fairness. DePIN can be said to be a very important part of the Web3 revolution.

It is worth mentioning that DePIN is not a fantasy concept, it has begun to become a reality. According to data platforms such as DePIN Scan, there are now hundreds of DePIN projects active, covering many fields such as energy, transportation, computing, and communications, and practical applications are accelerating.

02 How does DePIN work?

DePIN combines blockchain technology with various resources in our real world. It works roughly like this:

• Blockchain is the foundation:Like an open ledger that records everyone's contribution, smart contracts are like an automatically running protocol that securely handles everyone's rewards. Public chains like Ethereum and Solana provide underlying technical support for many DePIN projects.

• Everyone contributes resources together: Users can contribute their idle physical assets, such as excess bandwidth, storage space, computer graphics cards (GPU, which is crucial in AI computing), electric car charging piles, and even home solar panels.

• Contribution is rewarded: As long as you contribute resources, you can get the token issued by the network as a reward (such as Filecoin's FIL and Helium's HNT). This reward mechanism is critical, and it can effectively mobilize idle resources around the world.

For example, through Filecoin, you can rent your unused hard drive space to others. The blockchain will use some encryption technology to confirm that you have indeed provided storage services, and then you can receive FIL as a reward without any middleman. This not only reduces costs, but also establishes a network that is not easily censored and is very reliable. According to Filecoin's official data, by the end of 2024, their network storage capacity has exceeded 20 EiB, providing reliable decentralized storage services for users around the world.

DePIN has a wide range of applications, covering many industries:

• Decentralized storage: Like a distributed "cloud disk", it can replace traditional centralized cloud services. In addition to Filecoin, Arweave has also attracted many users by offering permanent storage with a one-time payment.

• Wireless network: Establish network connections for the Internet of Things and remote areas through the power of the community. Helium Network has not only done a good job in the field of LoRaWAN (a low-power wide area network technology), but is also working hard to move to 5G networks, wanting to build a more comprehensive decentralized wireless communication infrastructure.

• Energy sharing: Establish a peer-to-peer renewable energy trading market. Projects like Powerledger are trying to use blockchain technology to track and trade renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.

• AI and Computing:Release idle computing power and drive the intelligent future. Utilize everyone's idle computer processing power (especially GPU) to accelerate AI model training or 3D image rendering. Render Network and Akash Network bring together the idle graphics cards and CPU computing power around the world to provide cheaper and more efficient solutions for computing-intensive tasks such as AI model training and 3D rendering. As artificial intelligence develops at an unprecedented rate, the demand for computing power is growing exponentially. DePIN shows great potential in providing distributed and affordable AI computing power, which is expected to break the monopoly of centralized computing power giants and accelerate the popularization of AI technology.

• Transportation: DIMO Network encourages car owners to share their vehicle data and build a decentralized car data platform that can be used for many applications such as smart transportation and insurance.

• Geospatial Data: Hivemapper encourages everyone to collect high-definition map data with dashcams, with the goal of building a more real-time and accurate decentralized map service to challenge traditional service providers like Google Maps.

• Environmental Monitoring: PlanetWatch uses a global network of sensors to monitor air quality, providing more detailed and transparent environmental information. Users can earn rewards by deploying and maintaining these sensor nodes.

• Content Distribution Network (CDN): Theta Network uses everyone's idle bandwidth and computing resources to accelerate video playback and content distribution, with the goal of reducing CDN costs and making it easier for everyone to watch videos.

In general, DePIN reduces costs, protects privacy, and allows more people to participate in the construction and use of infrastructure - this is the key reason why DePIN can develop in 2025.

03 Inventory of potential projects in the DePIN track

According to Depinscan data, the total market value of the DePIN track has exceeded US$15 billion, and there are more than 300 Depin projects, many of which have actually begun to be applied:

• Filecoin:The leader in decentralized storageFilecoin is like a decentralized Amazon S3, focusing on providing secure and private storage services.

  By the end of 2024, the storage capacity of the Filecoin network has exceeded 20 EiB. Filecoin has always maintained a leading position in the field of decentralized storage, and the utilization rate of storage has also been steadily increasing. They also launched the Filecoin virtual machine to make this ecosystem more dynamic and capable of doing more.

• Helium:Innovator in the field of wireless networks
  In the Helium network, users can deploy a device called a "hotspot" to help build a decentralized wireless network and receive HNT tokens as rewards (HNT has now been divided into two tokens, IOT and MOBILE).

  Currently, the Helium network has deployed more than 1 million hotspots, covering many places around the world. Messari's report pointed out that Helium has formed a large network effect in the LoRaWAN field and is actively developing 5G networks. They also cooperate with telecom operators such as Nova Labs (formerly Helium), such as promoting decentralized 5G networks with Dish Wireless in the United States.

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  Helium provides Internet access for IoT devices and remote areas, and is becoming a useful supplement to traditional telecommunications infrastructure.

• Grass Network: Sharing Bandwidth to Enable AI Data Collection and Model Training
  Based on the Solana blockchain, Grass allows users to share their unused bandwidth. More importantly, it is also actively exploring the use of the computing power of user devices (including GPUs) to participate in data collection and distributed training of AI models. Users can obtain Grass Points (which can be exchanged for GRASS tokens in the future).

  Messari's report specifically mentioned Grass's unique resource sharing model and its potential in supporting the development of AI. They are also working with some AI companies to use everyone's idle bandwidth and computing resources to contribute to the advancement of AI.

• Render Network: Decentralized GPU Computing Engine
  Render Network is the main platform for connecting everyone's idle graphics cards (GPUs) for training and reasoning of AI models, as well as computationally intensive tasks such as 3D rendering. Users can get RNDR token rewards (now migrated to the Solana blockchain). Render Network's ecosystem has been expanding, attracting more and more AI researchers, artists, and designers to use their services.

  Messari's report pointed out that Render Network is a leader in both decentralized GPU rendering and AI computing, and their revenue and number of active users have increased significantly. The market value of their RNDR tokens in 2024 has also increased significantly, indicating that the market has a great demand for this decentralized GPU computing power. For example, in the fields of AI model training and movie special effects rendering, Render Network has helped complete many important projects.

• Hivemapper:Mapping with the power of the community
  Hivemapper encourages users to collect map data through dashcams installed in cars and jointly build a decentralized map.

  Hivemapper's network coverage is getting wider and wider, and people all over the world are contributing data. The real-time and accuracy of their map data are also constantly improving, and they are beginning to attract the attention of some corporate users. Hivemapper challenges traditional centralized map service providers and provides more timely and detailed geospatial data.

• PlanetWatch:Monitoring global air quality
  PlanetWatch uses sensors deployed by users to monitor air quality and provide decentralized environmental data. PlanetWatch's sensor network continues to expand and collects a large amount of air quality data. These data are valuable for environmental research, smart city construction, and other aspects.

• Theta Network:Make video playback smoother
  Theta Network uses users' idle bandwidth and computing resources to accelerate video streaming and content distribution. Theta Network has been working with various video platforms and content providers to expand their network coverage and content distribution capabilities. Their technology can effectively reduce the cost of CDN and improve the user's viewing experience. It can be said that Theta Network has subverted the traditional content distribution model and provided users with a smoother and cheaper video viewing experience.

04 Opportunities and challenges facing DePIN

According to relevant reports from Messari, the total market value of the DePIN field has increased by more than 120% in the past year, attracting many institutional investors and developers. Many venture capital institutions and analysts are optimistic about the future of DePIN and believe that it will become the next important growth point in the Web3 field.

The advantages of DePIN are:

• More economical: It does not require large-scale centralized investment, and attracts global users to contribute resources through Token rewards, reducing the cost of building and operating infrastructure.

• More reliable: Decentralized networks are more resistant to single point failures and censorship than traditional centralized systems, improving the stability and reliability of the network.

• More inclusive: As long as you have equipment and networks that meet the requirements, anyone can participate, lowering the threshold and allowing more idle resources to be utilized.

• Great demand: In the fields of telecommunications, energy, AI, and the Internet of Things, there is an increasing demand for more efficient, secure, and economical decentralized solutions, which provides a broad market for DePIN. Especially in the field of AI, the demand for computing power is almost unlimited, and the distributed, low-cost computing power solution provided by DePIN is expected to be the key to solving this bottleneck. For example, with the popularity of AI applications such as large language models, the demand for edge computing and distributed AI computing power will become more urgent, and DePIN can meet these needs.

Behind this craze is the growing demand for decentralized solutions in industries such as telecommunications, energy, and AI, which are facing changes.

Of course, DePIN also faces some challenges:

• Regulatory: Governments' regulatory policies on cryptocurrencies and decentralized networks are still unclear, which may bring some uncertainty to the development of DePIN.

• User habits: It takes time and education for users to switch from familiar centralized systems to the new DePIN network, and it is very important to improve user experience.

• Security issues: The security of smart contracts is critical, and once a vulnerability occurs, it may cause user asset losses. In addition, the physical infrastructure itself may also face security risks.

• Interconnection between different projects: There is currently a lack of unified standards between different DePIN projects, which may limit the development of the entire ecosystem.

Projects like Grass address privacy issues by using technologies such as zero-knowledge proofs, and Helium's cooperation with traditional telecom operators also shows that DePIN is being accepted by the wider industry - these are all signs that DePIN is working hard to overcome these challenges. At the same time, the industry is also actively exploring DePIN standards and protocols to promote interoperability between different projects.

05 Summary

In general, the reason why DePIN is expected to occupy an important position in 2025 is that it cleverly combines the decentralization, transparency and incentive mechanism of blockchain with the urgent need for physical infrastructure in the real world.Especially in terms of AI computing power sharing, pioneers such as Render Network and Grass are exploring new possibilities and are expected to break the monopoly of traditional centralized computing power giants.

This is not only a technological innovation, but also a profound change in the traditional way of resource allocation. Pioneers such as Filecoin, Helium, Grass, Render, etc. are depicting a more open, efficient and inclusive decentralized future for us through practical applications and continuous innovation. In this future, everyone has the opportunity to become a contributor and beneficiary of infrastructure, and the idle resources in our daily lives will also release huge value.

This Web3 transformation driven by DePIN has just begun. With the continuous maturity of technology and the improvement of the ecosystem, we have reason to believe that DePIN will play an increasingly important role in the future digital economy, especially in the field of AI computing power. So, who will eventually lead this new competition for AI computing power sharing? Let us wait and see.