What hardware can you buy today that earns while it works?
DePINscan | DePIN Hub | Innovators
Wireless
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| Helium Indoor Hotspot | Helium (HNT) | 5G/LTE coverage via CBRS spectrum | ~$249 | Telecom, mobile |
| Helium Outdoor Hotspot | Helium (HNT) | Weather-resistant outdoor 5G coverage | ~$499 | Telecom, mobile |
| XNET WiFi Access Point | XNET | Carrier-grade WiFi 6/7 in public spaces, AT&T roaming partner | $149–$249 | Public WiFi, carrier offload |
| Dabba Lite | Dabba (DBT) | Last-mile broadband hotspot, local operators | ~$199 | Emerging-market broadband |
| Wicrypt Spider | Wicrypt (WNT) | Portable WiFi sharing, up to 70 clients | $200–$300 | Public WiFi, Africa/emerging markets |
Mobility and Vehicle Data
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| DIMO LTE R1 | DIMO | OBD2 dongle with LTE + GPS, streams vehicle diagnostics | ~$169 + $7.50/mo | Fleet management, insurance |
| DIMO AutoPi Hub | DIMO | Advanced OBD2 hub, real-time health monitoring | $300–$400 | Fleet management, maintenance |
| Soarchain Mini | Soarchain (SOAR) | OBD2 dongle collecting driving/mobility data for V2X network | ~$83 | Logistics, autonomous vehicles |
Mapping and Geospatial
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| Hivemapper Bee | Hivemapper (HONEY) | AI dashcam that maps streets while you drive | $19/mo subscription | Mapping, autonomous driving |
| GEODNET GNSS Station | GEODNET (GEOD) | Triple-band GNSS providing centimetre-level RTK corrections | $500–$700 | Precision agriculture, surveying, robotics |
| Wingbits WB200 | Wingbits (WINGS) | ADS-B flight tracking station, 250-mile range | $495–$999 | Aviation, flight tracking |
Weather and Environment
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| WeatherXM D1 (WiFi) | WeatherXM (WXM) | Personal weather station, hyper-local data | ~$400 | Agriculture, insurance, climate |
| WeatherXM WS2000 (LoRaWAN) | WeatherXM (WXM) | Weather station via Helium LoRaWAN, no WiFi dependency | ~$500 | Agriculture, insurance, climate |
Compute and AI
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| Aethir Edge | Aethir (ATH) | Qualcomm edge compute device for AI and gaming workloads | $999–$1,399 | AI inference, cloud gaming |
| HyperAiBox | HyperCycle (HYPC) | Plug-and-play AI compute appliance, stackable | $1,199–$1,259 | AI compute, decentralised AI |
| io.net | io.net (IO) | BYOD — connect your existing NVIDIA GPU | Free (use existing GPU) | AI/ML training, inference |
| Akash Network | Akash (AKT) | BYOD — lease your existing GPU on open marketplace | Free (use existing GPU) | AI/ML, cloud compute |
| Render Network | Render (RENDER) | BYOD — contribute GPU for 3D rendering and AI | Free (use existing GPU) | 3D rendering, visual effects |
Energy
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| Srcful Energy Gateway | Srcful (SRC) | Connects solar inverters/batteries, earns for green energy data | ~$90–$150 | Solar, grid stabilisation |
| Daylight Energy | Daylight | Links existing thermostats, EVs, batteries to virtual power plant | Free–subsidised | Demand response, virtual power plants |
Storage
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| Filecoin Storage | Filecoin (FIL) | Enterprise server for storing data deals | $5,000–$25,000+ | Cloud storage, archival, enterprise |
Robotics and Emerging
| Device | Protocol | What It Does | Price (USD) | Industry |
|---|
| FrodoBots Earth Rover | FrodoBots (Solana) | Sidewalk robot generating embodied AI training data | ~$249 | Robotics, AI training data |
| Nodle App | Nodle (NODL) | Smartphone app turns Bluetooth into IoT relay node | Free (use existing phone) | IoT, asset tracking, supply chain |
Node Sales
A node sale is a fundraising method where users purchase the right (often as an NFT) to operate a node within a blockchain network. Operators earn rewards in native tokens and transaction fees.
| Signal | What to Check |
|---|
| Structure | Tiered pricing (prices rise as more sell) |
| Rewards | Native tokens, transaction fees, or staking yield |
| Lock-up | Non-transferability periods for network stability |
| Technical | Hardware/software requirements, delegation options |
| Risk | Market volatility, regulatory, centralisation if few entities buy many nodes |
Notable raises: Aethir ($126M), Sophon ($60M+).
How to Evaluate a Device
Before buying, run through:
- Operator ROI — Does token reward cover hardware + electricity in 12–24 months?
- Network health — Are there >1,000 active nodes with geographic spread?
- Token sustainability — Do emissions decrease over time? Does usage drive demand?
- Demand side — Who actually pays for the service the device provides?
- Exit — Can you resell the hardware if the network fails?
For a structured scoring process — operator ROI, network health, token sustainability, demand side, exit — use the tech review process. It applies the five-dimension hardware framework and writes the verdict back to the feature matrix.
See DePIN Investment Appraisal for the full investment thesis framework.
Context
Questions
Which device category generates data with compounding value — and which pays you once then flattens?
- Before buying a device, have you verified who actually purchases the data it generates — and at what price?
- If the network behind a device shuts down in 18 months, can you recover the hardware cost from resale alone?
- What is the difference between a device that earns passively and one that requires active management — and does the ROI calculation reflect that labor?