Leading decentralized infrastructure projects: what traders need to know in 2024-2025

The decentralized physical infrastructure sector is rapidly becoming one of the most promising areas in the cryptocurrency industry. Projects based on principles of distributed computing and decentralized resource management demonstrate growing potential for mass adoption across various sectors of the economy.

According to analytical platforms, the market capitalization of this segment exceeded $32 billion by the end of 2024, with daily trading volumes approaching $3 billion. Major investment funds, including Borderless Capital, are launching specialized funds of up to $100 million to support the development of innovative projects in this niche. Expert forecasts are especially optimistic: by 2028, the market could expand to $3.5 trillion.

Concept of Decentralized Infrastructure and Its Significance

Decentralized physical infrastructure links blockchain digital capabilities with real assets—energy networks, wireless communication systems, data storage solutions. The system uses tokenized incentive mechanisms that reward participants for providing their resources to the shared network.

Key development trends:

Practical implementation solutions show successful examples in energy management, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and IoT device administration. Projects demonstrate the ability to reduce operational costs and increase service accessibility.

Technological innovations, such as developments by U2U Network, create modular architectures compatible with EVM, specifically optimized for the requirements of distributed systems. These solutions accelerate transaction processing and provide a higher level of security for interactions.

Role of Distributed Equipment in the Ecosystem

Distributed equipment remains the foundation of the decentralized infrastructure ecosystem. The separation of physical components—antennas, access points, processing servers—among multiple participants eliminates single points of failure and minimizes centralized control.

Examples of successful implementation:

Helium Mobile demonstrates the viability of the model: over 335,000 active users are subscribed to the service, confirming the scalability of decentralized wireless infrastructure while rewarding individual operators.

Meson Network manages over 59,000 nodes globally, functioning as an open marketplace for unused bandwidth. This approach effectively reduces costs and broadens service accessibility.

Such architecture creates a more reliable and democratic structure, allowing participants to contribute their available resources in exchange for fair rewards, strengthening the community and increasing system stability.

Mechanism of Decentralized System Operation

Integrating physical infrastructure with blockchain technology enhances security, expands scalability options, and optimizes resource utilization. Distributing authority and management makes the infrastructure more resilient to failures and fair in the distribution of benefits.

In the energy sector, such systems enable owners of solar panels to sell excess electricity directly to neighbors or back to the grid through secure blockchain mechanisms.

Core system elements:

Blockchain infrastructure provides an immutable record of operations and automates execution via smart contracts.

Economic incentives through tokens motivate participants to join the network, rewarding them with digital assets they can exchange or use to access services within the ecosystem.

Interoperability ensures seamless interaction between decentralized networks and other blockchain platforms and traditional systems.

This innovative approach not only lowers barriers to access essential services but also promotes more rational and economical resource management on a global scale.

Advantages and Prospects

Decentralized systems demonstrate several significant advantages:

Security and fault tolerance are increased because systems are supported by blockchain and do not contain critical failure points. The result is guaranteed continuous service.

Scalability and performance are achieved through the use of decentralized nodes for efficient archiving of large data volumes. Examples like Filecoin and Arweave demonstrate this capability. By Q3 2023, Arweave processed 28 billion transactions and hosted over 130 active projects within its ecosystem.

Accessibility and fairness in costs are provided by projects like U2U Network, which use tokenized incentives to create networks without requiring large initial investments, opening doors for a broader range of participants.

Compatibility and expanded capabilities are realized through platforms like Streamr, which focus on integrating decentralized real-time data exchange with enhanced cross-platform support.

Leading Projects for Investors

Internet Computer (ICP)

This is a decentralized computing platform developed by DFINITY Foundation aimed at transforming the internet by hosting web services and applications directly on the public blockchain. Unlike traditional cloud infrastructure, ICP deploys a global network of independent data centers, creating a “world computer” with enhanced security, scalability, and decentralization.

This architecture allows developers to create and deploy decentralized applications without relying on traditional IT infrastructure, fully aligning with the ideals of distributed systems and ensuring a sustainable ecosystem.

In 2024, the project made significant breakthroughs with the release of updates Tokamak, Beryllium, and Stellarator, greatly improving network throughput and performance. These developments positively impacted the price: ICP grew by 121% from November 2023 to November 2024. As of December 2025, the current price is $3.03 with a market cap of $1.66B.

Development plans through 2025 include deeper integration of artificial intelligence and expanded interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems, including a planned merger with Solana.

Bittensor (TAO)

An open-source decentralized protocol combining blockchain and artificial intelligence to form a collaborative machine learning network. The system allows collective training of ML models, paying participants in TAO cryptocurrency based on the informational value they add to the network.

This approach creates a peer-to-peer AI marketplace, promoting innovation and democratizing access to ML resources.

In 2024, Bittensor integrated advanced technologies like Proof of Intelligence and decentralized architecture of Mixture of Experts, expanding AI service exchange capabilities. This contributed to a price increase: by November 2024, TAO reached a market cap of $3.8 billion with an annual growth of 152%. Current prices as of December 2025: $222.60 with a market cap of $2.14B.

By 2025, the project aims to improve its decentralized machine learning protocol with broader applications across various industries.

Render Network (RENDER)

A decentralized platform connecting creators needing rendering services with providers of unused GPU power. Using global graphics resources, the platform offers scalable and cost-effective solutions for 3D graphics, animation, and VR content.

This decentralized approach optimizes hardware utilization and makes high-performance capabilities accessible to a wider audience.

In 2024, the network migrated from Ethereum to Solana, renaming the token from RNDR to RENDER to increase transaction speed and scalability. Major exchanges facilitated a 1:1 swap.

Token growth exceeded 150% over the year (data as of November 2024). Current December 2025 prices: $1.28 with a market cap of $662.23M.

Filecoin (FIL)

A decentralized storage network enabling users to store and access data in a peer-to-peer manner. The blockchain-based foundation creates an open market where providers and clients can interact directly, ensuring reliable storage with long-term integrity verification.

In 2024, the project expanded capabilities with the launch of Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), opening new use cases and allowing TVL to exceed $200 million. However, FIL prices remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2024, trading well below the peak of $11.47 (March 2024).

By 2025, plans include expanding programming capabilities on FVM and deploying Ethereum-compatible smart contracts.

Shieldium (SDM)

A Web3 cybersecurity platform utilizing DePIN-oriented artificial intelligence to protect cryptocurrency users and Web3 companies. It relies on professional data center servers, providing hosting, encryption, threat detection, and high-performance computing.

The native token $SDM is a core element of the ecosystem, facilitating payments, incentivizing node operators, and enabling participation in DAO governance.

In 2024, the company launched applications for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The network attracted $2 million in USDT for node testing.

By 2025, plans include expanding security portfolio, entering new geographic markets, and developing BNB Layer-2 for node deployment.

The Graph (GRT)

A decentralized indexing protocol facilitating organization and access to blockchain data. Developers can create and publish open APIs (subgraphs), simplifying blockchain data queries and fostering decentralized application development.

The GRT token functions as a utility token, incentivizing indexers, curators, and delegators involved in organizing data.

As of November 2024, market cap reached $1.93 billion with a 67% annual growth. The platform supports multiple blockchains: Ethereum, NEAR, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, Celo, Fantom, Moonbeam. Current prices as of December 2025: $0.04 with a market cap of $391.34M.

Roadmap through 2025 includes expanding the rich information services market, developing developer tools, optimizing indexer performance, and creating interconnected data graphs.

Theta Network (THETA)

A decentralized platform for optimizing streaming video and delivery via blockchain. Users share bandwidth and computing resources, improving stream quality and reducing content provider costs.

Dual-token system: THETA for governance and TFUEL for payments and participant incentives.

As of November 2024, THETA increased by 76% annually and reached a market cap of $1.5 billion. In 2024, the project introduced EdgeCloud—a next-generation edge computing solution. Current December 2025 prices: $0.27 with a market cap of $266.70M.

By 2025, the third phase of EdgeCloud is planned as an open marketplace connecting clients with edge nodes.

Arweave (AR)

A decentralized permanent data storage network. Uses blockweave structure (instead of a linear chain), with each block linked to multiple previous blocks, increasing search efficiency and providing redundancy.

The SPoRA consensus mechanism requires miners to access random historical data, incentivizing archive preservation.

In November 2024, protocol update 2.8 was released with a new packaging format, improving efficiency, scalability, and energy efficiency. At that time, AR traded around $19 with a forecast up to $21.42, market cap of $1.24 billion (growth of 171% over the year). Current December 2025 prices: $3.47 with a market cap of $227.13M.

JasmyCoin (JASMY)

A Tokyo-based cryptocurrency by Jasmy Corporation integrating blockchain and IoT to enhance data sovereignty. Founded in 2016 by former Sony executives to create a decentralized data marketplace where users have full control over their personal information.

In 2024, JASMY showed impressive growth: price increased over 366% in a year, reaching a market cap of $1.35 billion in June 2024. Growth was driven by strategic partnerships with NVIDIA and Ripple.

By 2025, plans include forming alliances with IoT device manufacturers and demonstrating practical benefits of IoT data usage.

Helium (HNT)

A decentralized wireless network for IoT device connectivity. The system incentivizes users to install hotspots, earning rewards in HNT. This creates an economical and extensive network for applications in smart agriculture, logistics, and environmental monitoring.

The network operates on Solana, ensuring high scalability. As of November 2024, HNT market cap grew by 190% annually, reaching $990 million. The introduction of IOT and MOBILE subnets expanded the ecosystem. Current December 2025 prices: $1.50 with a market cap of $279.67M.

Grass Network (GRASS)

A decentralized platform enabling monetization of unused internet bandwidth by contributing to web data collection for AI training. Running a Grass node allows the network to utilize bandwidth for collecting and processing unstructured web data.

In 2024, the platform gathered over 2 million users in its beta version. GRASS was launched via a large airdrop of 100 million tokens to 1.5 million addresses on October 28, 2024. Since launch, the token has increased over 200%, with a market cap of $600 . Current prices December 2025: $0.30 with a market cap of $129.36M.

IoTeX (IOTX)

A decentralized platform combining blockchain and IoT to create a secure ecosystem for machine-to-machine interaction. Uses Roll-DPoS consensus for high throughput and low latency.

As of November 2024, IOTX market cap was $410 million with a 90% annual growth. In 2024, IoTeX 2.0 was launched with modular infrastructure for verifiable DePIN projects. The ecosystem expanded to over 230 decentralized applications and 50+ DePIN projects. Current prices December 2025: $0.01 with a market cap of $68.31M.

Sector Development Challenges

The decentralized infrastructure sector of cryptocurrencies faces significant obstacles:

Technical complexity of integrating blockchain with physical infrastructure requires specialized knowledge in security, scalability, and compatibility. Seamless interaction between decentralized networks and physical assets remains critical.

Regulatory hurdles pose serious challenges, as DePIN projects intersect with legal frameworks governing both digital and physical infrastructure. The evolving nature of blockchain regulation adds compliance requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

Market adoption demands projects demonstrate clear advantages over traditional systems in terms of cost, efficiency, and convenience. Overcoming skepticism from established industries is critical for mass acceptance.

Development Forecast for 2025-2028

The DePIN sector is experiencing dynamic growth: total capitalization exceeded $32 billion, increasing by 28% annually. Growth is supported by developments in computing networks, storage systems, and AI solutions.

Market forecasts project reaching $3.5 trillion by 2028, driven by demand for streaming, online content delivery, and comprehensive storage solutions.

Transitioning from centralized to distributed networks promises more efficient, fair, and resilient infrastructure models.

Summary

The decentralized cryptocurrency infrastructure sector is on the verge of a major transformation, offering revolutionary approaches to traditional digital services. DePIN projects emphasizing security, scalability, and true decentralization attract increasing investor and trader interest.

As demand for distributed solutions grows, DePIN projects will play a central role in ecosystem development, providing investors with portfolio diversification opportunities and participation in the technological revolution.