Solana’s biggest DePIN is setting records

Crypto cycles tend to have two big innovations: something real and something ridiculous that distracts retail, pumps the wrong narrative and eventually implodes the market.

We’ve had a ton of innovations this cycle, but none have really stuck because memecoins showed up early and stole the show. However, if recent momentum from projects like Helium is anything to go by, the current run might get its more “serious” cycle innovation after all, thanks to decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).

DePIN uses crypto incentives and public coordination to bootstrap real-world infrastructure (like wireless coverage, sensor networks, GPU clusters, energy grids). Instead of billion-dollar telcos or centralized cloud platforms, the infrastructure gets built by communities and aligned with token rewards. In theory, it’s the internet’s final Frankenstein, turning crypto into a tool to build digital utility outward into meatspace.

In recent weeks, Helium has hit new all-time highs in DAO voting participation, $MOBILE validator onboarding and usage-based rewards. It’s also passed major protocol milestones: expanding 5G coverage to over 4,500 radios across 2,000+ US cities and driving real-world traffic to Helium Mobile’s $20/month unlimited plan — now sold in 3,000 Walmart stores.

Take that in for a moment: These are actual phones using a crypto-backed, community-powered DePIN network.

Traditional telecom is bloated, centralized and hostile to innovation. Infrastructure costs are egregious, rural service is often non-existent, and MVNOs are locked into opaque backend deals. Helium is flipping this by letting users deploy coverage infrastructure, earn rewards based on network demand, and manage protocol upgrades through its onchain governance systems. It’s basically Uber-for-cell-towers (ew, I know. Such a cheugy analogy at this point), except instead of squeezing labor, it aligns long-term incentives through verifiable coverage proofs and onchain traffic accounting.

That said, it’s far from a done deal for Helium. The protocol’s parent company Nova Labs underwent a significant round of layoffs last summer, and it now has competition from the likes of XNET. It’s still unclear just how profitable Helium Mobile’s business is.

Initially launched for low-data IoT sensors (LoRaWAN), Helium’s pivot to 5G mobile was a big step toward legitimacy. Through a partnership with T-Mobile, Helium Mobile now operates as a hybrid carrier, routing data across both centralized infrastructure and community-run equipment. Doing this has enabled fresh experiments in coverage-based rewards, user-side rebates and real-time tracking of infrastructure usage — all of which are settled on Solana.

Helium’s not alone. In recent months, projects like Hivemapper (decentralized Street View), WeatherXM (community weather data) and Grass (browser-based data capture for AI models) have each carved out early traction. The common thread here is real-world participation, mostly thanks to tokenized incentives. These are applications that COULD exist without crypto, but they scale better with it. People like monetary rewards, it turns out.

If any of these networks hit a tipping point where proper utility gains equilibrium with the joys of token yield, I think we might see it spark the first DePIN-native flywheel.