Solana DePIN Projects Report Record $1.6 Million Monthly Revenue in August

Executive Summary

Solana's Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) ecosystem generated an unprecedented $1.6 million in August 2025, marking an all-time high in monthly revenue. This figure represents a 60% month-over-month increase for the sector. This growth underscores increasing adoption and economic activity within decentralized infrastructure, positioning Solana as a leading platform for such initiatives.

The Event in Detail

In August 2025, DePINs operating on the Solana blockchain collectively recorded revenues of $1.6 million. This new peak was significantly driven by contributions from projects such as Helium, Hivemapper, GEODNET, Render Network, Uprock, and Natix. Specifically, Helium reported $910,000 in August revenue, a 127% month-over-month increase, while GEODNET contributed $258,000, representing a 62% increase. Hylo.so also reached a revenue record of $238,000.

Revenue generation within DePIN projects is often linked to on-chain indicators, including token burns. For instance, Helium routes its subscription and usage revenue to on-chain burns, enabling users to convert HNT into non-transferable Data Credits (DCs) to access services on its IoT and mobile networks. Mobile data is charged at $0.50 per gigabyte, and IoT usage is incrementally charged per 24-byte message.

As of April 2025, the cumulative on-chain revenue for Solana DePIN projects had surpassed $5.98 million. In terms of total revenue, Render led with $2.65 million, followed by Helium with $2.3 million.

Market Implications

These record revenue figures for Solana DePIN projects indicate a maturing ecosystem and validated business models within the decentralized physical infrastructure sector. Solana has solidified its position as a dominant platform for DePIN, leading other blockchain platforms in market capitalization. As of April 2025, Solana's DePIN market capitalization stood at $3.25 billion, surpassing EVM chains at $2.84 billion, and demonstrating an average market capitalization per project of $191.3 million.

This performance validates Solana's strategic positioning, particularly following the migration of significant projects like Helium to its network. Increased revenue and adoption metrics, such as the tripling of connected devices to 2.3 million since early 2023, suggest growing investor and developer confidence in the DePIN sector on Solana.

Expert Commentary

A World Economic Forum (WEF) report projects substantial growth for the entire DePIN market, forecasting it to reach $3.5 trillion by 2028 from its current valuation of $30-$50 billion. This implies a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 375%. The report identifies blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) as critical drivers for this anticipated expansion.

Market data indicates that the DePIN sector has demonstrated strong performance, with DePIN tokens experiencing a 17.6% increase in Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) over the past week, making it the best-performing crypto sector when excluding NFT applications.

Broader Context

The sustained growth in DePIN revenue on Solana aligns with a broader trend of increasing economic activity across decentralized applications. Overall DApp revenue reached $509 million in August, marking a 144% year-over-year increase.

Solana's emergence as a primary hub for DePIN protocols is evident, with the chain accounting for 9 of the last 20 DePIN token launches with a market capitalization exceeding $10 million, thereby surpassing Ethereum in this regard. This sustained momentum suggests that DePIN models, by incentivizing contributions to real-world physical infrastructure with digital assets, are attracting significant capital and innovation, potentially redefining how essential services are delivered and maintained.