depin

I’ve been watching how the “off-chain meets on-chain” ecosystem is maturing, and a very clear vertical is starting to emerge. It’s no longer just about simple tokens, it’s about building a functional, decentralized alternative to the entire legacy financial and cloud stack.
Looking at Mey Network, Ribbon Finance, DIA, and Fluence, you can see a "three-layer cake" forming:

The Product Layer ($MEY & $RBN) 📈
Mey Network and Ribbon Finance are the front-of-house. They are experimenting with how to package messy off-chain yields (RWAs) and complex risk (derivatives) into programmable on-chain products. They turn complex financial strategies into something a DAO or a retail user can actually hold.
2. The Data Layer ($DIA) 🛠️
You can’t have the products above without the plumbing. DIA acts as the glue, providing the oracles and data feeds necessary for RWAs and AI-adjacent products to scale. They make the off-chain world legible to the blockchain.
3. The Compute Layer ($FLT) 🧠
This is where Fluence stands out. While the others handle the what (data and yield), Fluence handles the how (execution).
Why Fluence ($FLT) is the Missing Piece
If we want a truly decentralized future, we can't have decentralized yield ($MEY) and decentralized data ($DIA) running on a centralized Amazon Web Services (AWS) backend. That’s where Fluence’s mission comes in.
Beyond Oracles: While DIA feeds data, Fluence provides the decentralized backend compute. It’s a DePIN network where logic, indexing, and AI workloads run in a permissionless environment.The AI & DePIN Narrative: As AI agents and RWA modeling become more complex, they need "verifiable, cloudless backends." Fluence is positioned as the compute counterpart to what DIA is for data.The Cloudless Mission: Fluence isn't just another DeFi protocol; it’s the substrate. Its mission is to enable an open, switchable alternative to cloud monopolies.
💡 The Big Picture
We are moving away from on-chain games toward systems that ingest real-world assets and require massive computation. In this new stack:
Mey/Ribbon package the value.DIA provides the data.Fluence provides the engine to run the logic.
By decentralizing the execution layer, Fluence ensures that the next wave of AI and DeFi doesn't just look decentralized, it actually is decentralized from the ground up.
#DePIN

As we count down the final days of 2025, it’s time to close the books on another wild year in crypto. If 2024 was the year of the "Institutional ETF Approval," 2025 was the year of "Infrastructure & Integration."
The market matured. The hype cycles were shorter, but the builds were bigger. Before we pop the champagne for 2026, let’s hand out some grades and look at where the smart money is positioning for the next 12 months.
🏆 The "Class of 2025" Top Performers
AI & DePIN (A+): The convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Decentralized Physical Infrastructure was the undisputed narrative champion. Projects that allowed you to rent out GPU power or contribute real-world data for token rewards moved from concepts to working products with real revenue.Bitcoin Layer-2s (A): As BTC cemented its role as "pristine collateral," the race to build a DeFi ecosystem on top of it heated up. The most successful L2s were those that unlocked Bitcoin's trillions in dormant capital without compromising security.Real-World Assets (RWA) Pilots (B+): We saw the first successful tokenized treasury bills and real estate deals on-chain. It wasn't a flood yet, but the plumbing was successfully laid down.
🔮 The 2026 Outlook: 3 Big Bets for the New Year
The portfolio you built in 2025 might not be the one that wins in 2026. Here are the three narratives I’m watching closely:
1. RWA Tokenization Goes Mainstream
Forget pilots. 2026 is the year BlackRock, Fidelity, and global banks start moving serious volume on-chain. We're talking about tokenized private equity, carbon credits, and even intellectual property. The platforms that provide the most compliant and liquid infrastructure will win big.
2. The Return of "Fi" to GameFi
The first wave of play-to-earn was unsustainable. The next wave is being built by AAA game studios who understand fun first, with sustainable, player-owned economies built in. Look for games where the token is a value-add, not the entire point.
3. The "Regulatory Moat" Protocol
With clearer crypto regulations emerging globally, protocols that are "compliance-native"—built from the ground up to satisfy KYC/AML requirements for institutional participants—will have a massive advantage over the "wild west" DeFi platforms of the past.
Your Turn: What’s Your #1 Prediction for 2026?
Are you betting on a specific sector, or do you think Bitcoin will stand alone? Let me know in the comments below! 👇
#crypto2025 #2026Outlook #DePIN

Remember when everyone was screaming about DePIN in 2024? The explosive gains, the AI hype, the promises of revolutionary decentralized infrastructure? Well, 2025 told a completely different story—and honestly, it might be the most important chapter yet.
The Numbers Don't Lie (But They Tell a Complex Story)
Let me break down what actually happened this year. While most people moved on to the next shiny thing, DePIN went through a massive transformation.
The Winners and Losers:
Quantum Resistant Ledger absolutely crushed it with a 324% gainZBCN followed with an impressive 206% climbMeanwhile, some big names took serious hits: Render down 88%, Anyone Protocol dropped 84%, and Peaq fell a staggering 94%
Market Reality Check: The entire DePIN sector now sits at a $21 billion market cap across 238 projects. Growth? Down 53% year-over-year. Average trading volume settled around $1 billion.
Is this bad news? Actually, no. Let me explain why.
What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
2024 was pure adrenaline. Everyone rushed into DePIN because artificial intelligence plus decentralized infrastructure sounded like printing money. GPU networks, storage solutions, bandwidth tokens—they all skyrocketed way beyond what the actual technology could deliver.
But 2025? This was the sobering morning after. And that's exactly what this industry needed.
Think about it: prices corrected, the tourists left, and something beautiful happened. The real builders stayed. Projects that were just riding the hype wave disappeared, while networks actually delivering value kept grinding.
The Quiet Revolution Nobody Noticed
While Twitter moved on to the next memecoin, DePIN projects were busy doing something radical: building actual infrastructure.
Seven new networks launched this year—XPIN, ROVR, ICNT, WAL, AO, BLESS, and 0G. Not sexy launches with massive token pumps, but focused projects tackling real problems: geospatial data collection, decentralized compute orchestration, bandwidth coordination.
Storage networks dominated the DePIN landscape. IoT applications maintained steady growth. VPN solutions stayed niche but consistent—exactly where they should be.
The Social Dominance Shift
TAO (Bittensor) emerged as the undisputed narrative leader, joined by Internet Computer Protocol, OriginTrail, Helium, QRL, Akash Network, and Geodnet in the conversation.
These aren't just tokens people trade—they're networks people actually use.
Why 2026 Could Be Everything
Here's what most people are missing: DePIN stopped being a standalone hype cycle and became something more valuable—critical infrastructure.
The sector transformed from a frontend narrative (look at our cool decentralized network!) to a backend necessity (AI models literally need what we provide).
The Setup for Next Year:
Artificial intelligence models are getting hungrier. They need more decentralized data, more distributed compute power, and better physical coordination. Guess what provides all of that? DePIN networks.
While 2024 was about discovery and 2025 was about digestion, 2026 looks like the year of integration. DePIN isn't competing with AI anymore—it's becoming the foundation AI runs on.
Storage, IoT, and VPN: The Three Pillars
The infrastructure breakdown tells us exactly where the smart money is building:
Storage solutions grabbed the lion's share of attention and deploymentIoT networks maintained steady participation without overpromisingVPN-related projects stayed focused on their niche
This distribution isn't random. It reflects actual market needs, not speculation.
The Bottom Line
DePIN in 2025 looked boring on price charts. Growth slowed. Hype died. Attention moved elsewhere.
But underneath? Fundamentals strengthened. Real usage increased. Infrastructure improved. The foundation got built while everyone was distracted.
This sector isn't about quick flips anymore. It's about providing essential services to the next generation of decentralized applications. It's about being the pipes that carry the water, not the fancy faucet everyone photographs.
The teams still building through this consolidation phase—through the 53% decline, through the attention drought—these are the ones positioning for the next cycle.
Because when AI demand inevitably explodes again (and it will), when compute requirements skyrocket (and they will), when data coordination becomes critical at scale (and it already is)—DePIN networks won't be a speculative bet anymore.
They'll be indispensable infrastructure.
2024 was the spark that got everyone excited. 2025 was the reset that separated signal from noise. 2026? That's when the real work starts paying off.
#DePIN #DecentralizedInfrastructure