The Bull Case For DePIN, RWAs on Hyperliquid & The Onchain Endgame | Weekly Roundup
The Bull Case For DePIN, RWAs on Hyperliquid & The Onchain Endgame | Weekly Roundup
99 days agoEmpireBlockworks
Podcast1 hr 18 min
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Note: AI-generated summary based on third-party content. Not financial advice. Read more.
Quick Insights

Consider investing in the undervalued DePIN sector, focusing on top projects like Helium (HNT), GeoNet, and Grass which are showing consistent 30% quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. Helium (HNT) is positioned as a mature, blue-chip asset with strong business fundamentals, making it a candidate for a significant price recovery. For a higher-risk play tied to the AI trend, Grass is highlighted for its reportedly verified off-chain revenues of $50 million annually. The token Athena (ENA) is presented as a long-term bullish opportunity, currently trading at a significant discount around $0.15-$0.16, which could see a major rebound. The core strategy is to focus on projects with real, compounding revenue from actual customers, as this is where the market is currently mispricing value.

Detailed Analysis

DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) Sector

  • Bull Case: The speakers present a strong bullish case for the DePIN sector, arguing that it is misunderstood and undervalued by the market.
    • High Growth: DePIN projects are reportedly growing revenues at rates like 30% quarter-over-quarter, far outpacing typical SaaS businesses.
    • Large Markets: These projects are tapping into massive real-world industries (e.g., wireless, mapping, energy), offering a gigantic total addressable market (TAM).
    • Defensible Businesses: Building global infrastructure networks is difficult and capital-intensive, creating strong moats. A new global wireless network isn't spun up every day.
    • Non-Cyclical Revenue: Unlike DeFi, whose revenue is often tied to cyclical crypto market activity, DePIN revenue is generated from real-world usage and is more stable, comparable to a SaaS business.
    • Valuation: The speakers believe the market is applying the wrong valuation multiples to DePIN projects. They argue that the real "alpha" is not in arguing over a 10x vs 30x multiple, but in the sheer size and compounding nature of the revenues over many years.
  • Bear Case / Risks:
    • Competition from Big Tech: The primary bear case mentioned is that large, closed ecosystems like Apple and Google can replicate DePIN functionalities more efficiently and already have massive user bases and engineering talent (e.g., Apple's "Find My" network).
    • Tokenomics & Value Accrual: A key challenge is the disconnect between a project's revenue growth and its token price. Many early DePIN projects have struggled with token models that create constant sell pressure from hardware providers (miners) looking to recoup their capital expenditure.

Takeaways

  • DePIN is presented as a long-term investment theme focused on high-growth, real-world infrastructure plays that are currently undervalued.
  • Investors should focus on projects with proven, compounding revenue from real customers, rather than just speculative token price action.
  • The key risk to the entire sector is whether these decentralized networks can build something meaningfully better or more differentiated than what centralized tech giants like Apple and Google can offer.

Helium (HNT)

  • The speakers identify Helium as one of the three DePIN networks that are "unambiguously... cooking right now."
  • It is considered a mature project that has gone through multiple cycles and is now at scale on the supply side.
  • Revenue: The Helium mobile network (MVNO) is generating $13 million in annualized revenue and has been growing at 30% quarter-over-quarter for several years.
  • Network Stickiness: Despite the token price falling significantly in the past and earnings for miners being low, the network has proven to be very sticky. At its peak of nearly 1 million hotspots, it has only seen churn down to around 550,000-600,000, which is considered a low churn rate.
  • Founder: The founder, Amir Haleem, is described as an "elder statesman" of the DePIN space and a "true missionary" who has been working on the project for over a decade.
  • Token vs. Equity: The team is reportedly focused on trying to unify the token and equity to better align value accrual, though this faces regulatory and practical barriers.

Takeaways

  • Helium is positioned as a blue-chip DePIN asset with proven revenue, strong growth, and a resilient network.
  • It is a potential candidate for a "Carvana" style recovery, where the business fundamentals eventually drive a significant rebound in the asset's value after a major price crash.
  • Investors should monitor the team's efforts to merge the token and equity, as this could be a major catalyst for value accrual to the HNT token.

GeoNet

  • GeoNet is also named as one of the top three "cooking" DePIN networks.
  • Revenue: The project is generating close to $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).
  • Growth: Like Helium, it is putting up growth rates of 30% quarter-over-quarter consistently.
  • It is highlighted as a project with real business customers and proven revenue compounding.

Takeaways

  • GeoNet is another top-tier DePIN project with strong, verifiable fundamentals.
  • For investors looking for DePIN exposure beyond Helium, GeoNet is presented as a leading alternative with a similar profile of high, consistent revenue growth.

Grass

  • Grass is the third DePIN network highlighted as "cooking," though it is earlier in its lifecycle than Helium and GeoNet.
  • Revenue: The project claims $50 million in annualized revenues, which are generated off-chain. The speaker was initially skeptical but personally verified the invoices and contracts with top AI labs, stating "it's all real."
  • Business Model: Grass provides data that is used by AI labs. The reason revenue is not on-chain is attributed to customer concentration and protecting negotiating power with a small number of large enterprise clients.

Takeaways

  • Grass represents a higher-risk, higher-reward DePIN play that is directly tied to the AI narrative.
  • The validation of its off-chain revenue by the speaker is a significant bullish data point. Investors must weigh this endorsement against the inherent risks of non-transparent, off-chain revenue streams.

Real World Assets (RWAs) & Commodities on Hyperliquid

  • There has been a surge in trading activity for RWAs, specifically commodities, on the decentralized perpetuals exchange Hyperliquid.
  • Yesterday, 6 of the top 10 assets by trading volume on the platform were RWAs.
  • Silver (XAG): The Silver/USDC pair did $1 billion in volume in 24 hours, representing one-third of Bitcoin's volume on the platform.
  • Gold (XAU) and Copper also saw significant trading volume.
  • Driver: This trend is driven by crypto-native momentum traders chasing volatility. The key attraction is the ability to get high leverage (e.g., 25x on gold) that is not easily accessible in traditional brokerage accounts.
  • Trading Behavior: The high volume combined with relatively low open interest suggests this is dominated by short-term, speculative trading rather than long-term investment holds.

Takeaways

  • The success of commodity trading on Hyperliquid validates the product-market fit for on-chain perpetuals for non-crypto assets.
  • This creates a new use case and source of demand for decentralized exchanges, driven by crypto traders' appetite for leverage and volatility, regardless of the underlying asset.
  • Investors in DEX tokens should see this as a positive sign of an expanding addressable market.

InfraFi (Investment Theme) & Related Projects

  • InfraFi is a new financing model described as using debt to bootstrap infrastructure. It involves protocols that attract stablecoin deposits from yield-seekers and then lend that capital to fund real-world assets and infrastructure projects.
  • USDAI: This project is the "poster boy" for the InfraFi movement. It recently opened its deposit cap and raised $150 million in 45 minutes, demonstrating massive demand for stablecoin yield products.
    • Currently, 99.5% of its assets are in T-bills, but it is slowly beginning to deploy capital into real-world loans.
  • Daylight: Another project in this space, focused on providing financing for solar energy installations.
  • Risk: The primary challenge and risk for these platforms is origination. They must be able to find and underwrite high-quality loans safely and at scale. The speaker emphasizes that in a credit business, "you cannot lose people's money."

Takeaways

  • InfraFi represents a major new trend connecting DeFi's stablecoin liquidity with the capital needs of real-world businesses.
  • The investment opportunity lies in protocols like USDAI and Daylight that can build trust and successfully bridge the gap between on-chain capital and off-chain credit demand.
  • The key metric to watch for these projects is not just the amount of deposits (Total Value Locked), but their ability to safely and effectively deploy that capital into real-world loans.

Other Notable Assets & Companies

  • Athena (ENA):
    • The speaker is long-term very bullish on Athena, citing its "amazing founder."
    • The token is currently "getting crushed," trading around $0.15 - $0.16 down from a high of $1.50.
    • It is mentioned as a potential candidate to "do a Carvana" and experience a massive recovery.
  • Chainalysis:
    • The crypto compliance firm is seen as a prime candidate for an IPO, potentially as soon as this year (2024).
    • It is reported to have over $300 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and dominates the market for government and institutional compliance tooling.
  • Robinhood (HOOD):
    • The company's plan to launch 24/7 on-chain trading and self-custody for stock tokens in Europe is highlighted as part of a "mega trend" of fintech companies moving on-chain.
    • This move is seen as unlocking the ability for other public companies to follow suit.
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Episode Description
This week, we break down the evolving DePIN thesis, from real revenue traction to infra financing, regulation, and why some networks are finally compounding at scale. We also discuss the boom in Hyperliquid RWAs, bringing money & companies onchain, 2026 IPOs, and more. Enjoy! -- Follow Salvador: https://x.com/DAnconia_Crypto  Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz  Follow Rob: https://x.com/HadickM  Follow Santi: https://x.com/santiagoroel  Follow Empire:https://x.com/theempirepod     -- Coinbase crypto-backed loans, powered by Morpho, enable you to take out loans at competitive rates using crypto as collateral. Rates are typically 4% to 8%. Borrow up to $5M using BTC as collateral and up to $1M using ETH as collateral. Manage crypto-backed loans directly in the Coinbase app with ease. Learn more here:  https://www.coinbase.com/onchain/borrow/get-started?utm_campaign=0126_defi-borrow_blockworks_empire&marketId=0x9103c3b4e834476c9a62ea009ba2c884ee42e94e6e314a26f04d312434191836&utm_source=empire   -- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:44) Escape Velocity $61.74M Raise (05:500 The Case For DePIN (12:34) InfraFi And Bringing Money Onchain (22:07) Bear Case For DePIN And Top DePINs (30:57) Ads (Coinbase) (31:42) Metals And Hyperliquid RWAs (43:31) Crypto Integration Into FinTech (55:18) The State Of Compliance (58:49) 2026 IPOs (01:04:38) The Carvana Of Crypto (01:09:220 Content Of The Week (01:15:29) Claude Cowork -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, Rob and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.
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