DePIN Revenue Increased by 100x in the Last Two Years

DePIN Revenue Increased by 100x in the Last Two Years

According to a freshly released report by Messari, DePIN was one of the fastest-growing crypto fields in 2024. The sector's market capitalization surged from $20 billion in 2023 to $50 billion by year-end, representing 5% of all crypto assets excluding BTC, ETH, and stablecoins.

Annualized revenue from DePIN projects skyrocketed between 2022 and 2024 by 100x to $500m, fueled by demand for AI infrastructure. Over 13 million devices contributed to DePINs daily, with 20 projects surpassing 100,000 active nodes and five exceeding 1 million, led by Grass at 2.5 million.

The year also saw good capital inflows, with $230m raised through community funding and $100m allocated to pre-seed and seed stages by VCs. Solana and Base led the DePIN "chain wars," attracting developers with their infrastructure-focused and consumer-centric ecosystems, respectively.

Innovations such as proof-of-location and modular hardware enabled scalable growth, while advancements in AI integration positioned DePINs as critical infrastructure, which is expected to continue growing in 2025.

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ZKsync Ignite Program Doubles its Total Value Locked

ZKsync launched its "Ignite" program, allocating 300 million ZK tokens ($60 million) over nine months to incentivize liquidity on its layer 2 network. The program is divided into multiple seasons, with Season 1 running from January 6 to March 31 and distributing $20 million in ZK tokens to DeFi users across platforms like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, and Aave.

This initiative led to a nearly 90% surge in ZKsync’s total value locked, climbing from $97 million to $196 million in the first week of January. Following its airdrop in mid-2024, the network faced declining activity, with active addresses decreasing from 200,000 to 30,000 by year-end. However, the quick success of the Ignite program has renewed interest in the project.

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Czech Central Bank Explores Bitcoin Reserves

Czech National Bank (CNB) Governor Aleš Michl revealed interest in a reserve Bitcoin treasury but clarified there are no immediate plans to purchase. Michl highlighted BTC’s potential as a diversification tool, though decisions require consensus among CNB’s seven board members. Alongside cryptocurrencies, CNB aims to increase gold reserves to 5% of total assets by 2028.

This announcement follows recent tax reforms in the Czech Republic exempting long-term Bitcoin holdings from capital gains taxes if held for over three years. These measures encourage long-term investment strategies and reflect the government’s openness to creating a modernized digital economy, following the example of El Salvador.

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Ripple Adopts Chainlink for RLUSD Stablecoin

Ripple announced its integration with Chainlink’s Price Feeds to boost the utility of its RLUSD stablecoin within DeFi applications. This partnership ensures accurate and decentralized pricing data for RLUSD, facilitating use cases in trading, lending, and cross-border payments. RLUSD, launched on Ethereum and XRP Ledger in December, now has a $72 million market cap.

By utilizing Chainlink’s infrastructure, which has facilitated over $18 trillion in transaction value, Ripple aims to drive RLUSD adoption in crypto. Senior VP Jack McDonald emphasized that the integration will ensure reliability and transparency for protocols using RLUSD. Ripple’s initiative aligns with broader trends of stablecoins becoming pivotal on all blockchains.

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Data of the Day

Hyperliquid's layer 1 chain, known for its successful perpetual futures exchange, must attract developers to justify its $25 billion market cap, according to VanEck’s recent analysis. Despite capturing 70% market share (up from 10%) in perpetual futures trading and handling $260 million in daily transactions, Hyperliquid’s smart contract platform lacks major developer engagement.

The network’s HYPE token, launched in a November 2024 airdrop, surged over 500% but has since retraced to $25 per token. Hyperliquid’s plans for an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contract platform in 2025 are seen as critical for diversifying its revenue base. VanEck warns that without good developer support, Hyperliquid risks losing its momentum as a competitive L1.

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More Breaking News

• Backpack Exchange acquired FTX EU, set to launch in Q1 2025, and will distribute bankruptcy claims to FTX EU customers.
• US prosecutors estimate over 1 million victims in Do Kwon’s alleged $40 billion crypto fraud, as Kwon pleads not guilty in court.
• CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam will step down on Jan. 20, emphasizing an urgent need for stronger crypto regulation in the US.
• Solayer announced InfiniSVM, a hardware-accelerated blockchain with 1 ms transaction confirmations, expanding its Solana restaking protocol.
• Reddit NFT holders express concerns after Collectible Avatars project lead Bianca Wyler departs, raising doubts about its future.
• Polymarket bettors give pro-crypto Pierre Poilievre 89% odds to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next prime minister after his resignation.

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