The DeFi Investor 🔎 Profile picture
May 14, 2024 18 tweets 6 min read Read on X
One crypto sector is massively underrated:

DePIN.

DePIN is estimated to reach $3.5T by 2028 and is closely related to AI.

Here's your guide to DePIN (+ top projects I'm watching)👇 Image
In this thread, I'll cover:

• What is DePIN
• Why I'm bullish on DePIN
• Top DePIN projects on my watchlist
What is DePIN all about?

DePIN stands for Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks.

Protocols from this category essentially operate physical hardware infrastructure in a decentralized way.

To incentivize community participation, they use token reward mechanisms. Source: Messari
Simply put, DePIN empowers people to improve the public infrastructure.

DePIN projects can be grouped into several categories:

Wireless Networks
Compute Networks
Storage Networks
Geospatial Networks

...and the list goes on Image
Why I'm bullish on DePIN

DePIN is not just another short-term narrative.

It's a sector that offers better and decentralized alternatives to many highly popular centralized solutions.

For instance, Amazon & Microsoft have over 50% market share in the cloud services industry.
Their huge market share enables them to set high unfair prices for their services.

Due to the high maintenance costs, small businesses hardly compete with them.

DePIN projects aim to challenge this monopoly by offering more accessible solutions.
Many of those offer massive advantages over the current centralized solutions:

• significantly lower costs
• censorship resistance
• higher security

By using token incentives, the cold start problem that traditional businesses face can be overcome by DePIN projects. Source: Messari
The size of the cloud computing market alone is over $600b.

DePIN has the potential to capture a lot of market share in this market.

With that being said, let's talk about a few of the most interesting DePIN projects:
@rendernetwork

Render is a high-performance distributed GPU rendering network.

In short, Render Network allows GPU owners to loan out their GPU power to creators in need of GPU power.

The protocol can also be seen as a solution to render high-quality graphics and train generative AI models.

In comparison with centralized cloud rendering services, Render offers more computing power resources with way lower costs.Image
@fluence_project *

Fluence is the first decentralized cloudless computing platform.

It aggregates CPU capacity from data centers worldwide in a resilient platform where these providers compete on price & performance.

By creating a competition of compute providers, the platform enables 60-80% lower prices vs centralized clouds.

Combining this with censorship resistance, Fluence offers a way better alternative than cloud providers like AWS.

Every compute resource and compute job is secured with a $FLT stake to ensure the correctness of job execution.

Interestingly, Fluence is the first protocol that was launched on InterPlanetary Consensus, a scaling technology built by the creators of Protocol Labs, Filecoin & IPFS.Image
@Filecoin

Filecoin is the largest decentralized data storage marketplace.

It enables users with excess data storage to trade available space to users needing storage space for a fee.

In 2023, its storage utilization grew dramatically to 20% from 3%.

What's more, earlier in 2024, Solana announced an integration with Filecoin to make its block history more accessible and usable.Image
@NATIXNetwork *

Natix is an AI-powered DePIN project focused on mapping data.

It incentivizes users with points rewards for
downloading their app and mapping your surroundings.

The app lets users record mapping data using smartphone cameras when driving.

The data collected is useful for smart-city and mobility applications and is sold to businesses in need through a marketplace.

Recently, the Natix team announced that the $NATIX token launch will happen on @CoinList, a tier 1 launchpad.Image
@helium

Helium is a fast-growing decentralized wireless network.

By deploying a Helium Hotspot anywhere in the world, you can provide others with wireless network coverage.

In exchange for doing this, you're rewarded with Helium tokens.

According to Helium Explorer, there are over 400k active hotspots around the world.

Helium Mobile Network has seen incredible growth over the past months, growing at a 15.4% monthly growth rate.Image
@getgrass_io

Grass is the first-ever Layer 2 Data Market on Solana.

Using it you can get paid for your unused internet by contributing it towards the development of AI models.

Grass raised $3.5M in funding last year.

By installing the Grass browser extension that works in the background, you can turn your unused internet bandwidth into a revenue stream.

If you have an internet plan that exceeds your daily usage, then if you want you can farm its airdrop. (as Grass token isn't live yet)

If you want to give it a try, here's an invite link:
app.getgrass.io/register/?refe…
Other projects worth mentioning:

@atorprotocol -A decentralized network for internet privacy

@Theta_Network -A blockchain Cloud for AI, Media & Entertainment

@akashnet_ -A network that lets users buy & sell computing resources

@Hivemapper -A decentralized global maps protocol
There are so many innovative DePIN projects that I can't cover all of them.

But I'm always looking for new gems, so let me know in the comments if there are any other interesting projects I'm missing.
DePIN has the potential to be the first crypto sector to reach 100M daily active users.

It's more than just a short-term narrative given that it involves building better alternatives to popular centralized solutions.

It's only a matter of time until it gains a lot of traction. Image
I hope you've found this thread helpful.

Full disclosure: I'm an early investor in the projects marked with a *.

Follow me @TheDeFinvestor for more content like this.

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More from @TheDeFinvestor

Oct 1, 2024
Q4 is set to be a big quarter for crypto:

- FTX users will get $16b in cash
- New rate cuts are coming
- China is printing lots of money
- US Elections are 34 days away

Here are 15 projects with big catalysts in Q4 that I'm closely monitoring🧵
1️⃣ Sonic (prev. Fantom)

Fantom L1 is transitioning to Sonic, with the goal of becoming the fastest EVM chain.

Sonic will:

• enable the network to process 10k TPS with sub-second transaction finality
• introduce a new airdrop campaign
• include the launch of a new token $S

Another feature that stands out is Gas Monetization, which will enable developers on Sonic to earn up to 90% of the fees their apps generate.

Sonic Mainnet is expected to launch in December.
2️⃣ THORChain

The next step for @THORChain is releasing its App Layer.

Orderbook DEXs, Lending dApps, and NFT marketplaces will go live on THORChain.

Kujira will soon migrate to it.

By expanding its DeFi ecosystem, Thorchain will become an all-in-one cross-chain protocol.
Read 18 tweets
Apr 3, 2024
My watchlist of potential upcoming token launches in Q2:

• @LayerZero_Labs
• @eigenlayer
• @tfm_com
• @1intro
• @EclipseFND
• @NATIXNetwork
• @DriftProtocol
• @IntentX_
• @zksync
• @AureliusFi
• @swellnetworkio
• @tensor_hq
• @symm_io
• @Parcl

On the infographic down below, you can find a short description of the projects from this list.

Historically, new coins perform way better than old coins during bull markets.

$ALT, $JUP, $FLT, & $ENA are just a few examples of tokens that have recently been launched and are already outperforming.

That's why I think that it's worth keeping an eye on the upcoming token launches.

Here's what you need to know about some of the top projects I mentioned above:Image
@LayerZero_Labs

LayerZero is without a doubt the most popular cross-chain interoperability protocol.

One year after raising $120M in funding at a whopping $3B Valuation, the protocol is finally starting to prepare for its token launch.

As its team confirmed in December '23, the LayerZero token launch will happen in the first half of 2024.

Considering the huge valuation of @wormhole's token, Wormhole being one of the largest LayerZero competitors, I expect LayerZero's token to have a $20b+ valuation at launch.Image
@tfm_com *

TFM is an All in One Terminal for the Cosmos ecosystem.

It is basically a super aggregator on Cosmos with 4 live pro trading products:

• Pro Trade - a DEX aggregator
• IBC Swap - a 1-click cross chain swap solution
• a NFT Aggregator
• Limit Orders

What's interesting is that TFM's IBC Swap supports instant trading on over 100 Cosmos networks.

$TFM token launch is scheduled for April.

According to its team, $TFM will implement a revenue-sharing model.Image
Read 13 tweets
Jan 9, 2024
A new narrative is emerging in DeFi.

Restaking is the fastest-growing crypto sector and it's set to ignite the next ETH bull run.

Your ultimate guide to restaking and the top projects & opportunities in this sector👇 Image
What's restaking all about?

Restaking, a concept pioneered by EigenLayer, unlocks a new level of capital efficiency.

It allows the reuse of staked coins to earn higher yields.

Through Eigenlayer, ETH stakers can secure several services at once in addition to Ethereum L1.Credit to @ksin751119 for the image
Bridges, oracles, and L2s are a few examples of apps that can "rent security" from ETH stakers through Eigenlayer.

The protocol went live in 2023, and it attracted >$1b in TVL in just a few months.

Restaking enables much higher yields, and the demand for it seems to be huge. Image
Read 17 tweets
Dec 29, 2023
My crypto predictions for 2024🧵 Image
BTC will hit a new ATH

• the BTC Halving is just 109 days away
• interest rate cuts are expected in the next months
• a spot Bitcoin ETF will hopefully be approved soon

Those are just a few of the main reasons why I think that BTC will perform very well next year.
What about a recession?

Here's how I see things.

2024 is an election year for the US.

If the US enters a recession, the Biden Administration is very unlikely to win again unless they turn on the money printer.

This would probably lead to another insane bull run like in 2021.
Read 22 tweets
Dec 27, 2023
2024 will be a huge year for airdrops.

I curated a list of promising projects with live points programs as those are likely to launch a token soon.

A megathread on my favorite 2 birds 1 stone airdrop strategies👇
Eigenlayer + Kelp

EigenLayer is the first ETH restaking protocol. It attracted >$1b TVL in a few months.

Kelp is the protocol built on top of Eigenlayer behind the most popular liquid restaking token, rsETH.

Both of them launched points programs.

How to qualify for their potential airdrops:

• get some ETH on Ethereum mainnet (in case you don't already have)
• stake it with @LidoFinance / @staderlabs_eth and get stETH or ETHx in return
• go to Kelp and deposit stETH or ETHx in exchange for rsETH

Kelp was created by the founders of @staderlabs, a well-known liquid staking protocol with >$300M TVL.

If you stake your ETH with Stader and then deposit it to Kelp, you'll get extra Eigenlayer points💸

Link to @KelpDAO: kelpdao.xyz/restake/Image
Parcl + MarginFi

Parcl is a derivatives DEX for real-world assets. This seems to be one of the most underrated Solana airdrops despite that it has $10M+ funding.

MarginFi is the most popular money market on Solana.

Both have launched points programs.

How to qualify for their potential airdrops:

• lend assets on MarginFi (SOL, ETH, etc.)
• borrow USDC against your collateral (with a low loan-to-value ratio to make sure you'll not get liquidated)
• provide liquidity on Parcl in the form of USDC

Pro-tip:

If you want to lend SOL on MarginFi, stake it with @marginfi / @jito_sol first to also earn a staking yield and then lend the liquid staking derivative.

Links: (you can use my referral code DEFI12 on Parcl to get a 5% lifetime points boost)

Parcl:

MarginFI: app.parcl.co/referrals
mfi.gg/refer/ee21d268…
Read 10 tweets
Jul 24, 2023
A new hot narrative is brewing in DeFi.

Telegram bots are surging in popularity, with $UNIBOT being up >200x.

Here's a breakdown of the telegram crypto bots narrative + some gems from this sector🧵 Image
In this thread I'll cover:

• what TG Bots are all about
• the problem that they solve
• most interesting TG Crypto Bots

Let's dive in 🕵🏼
Bad UX has always been the biggest barrier in crypto to mass adoption.

With Telegram bots, users can easily automate tasks and complete on-chain activities such as:

• airdrop farming
• trade crypto directly from TG
• bridge funds across chains
Read 16 tweets

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