DePIN’s Golden Hour: Where VCs Bet Big on Real Assets and Tokenomics

In Brief

The DePIN Day Dubai panel "Investing in DePIN: What’s Real, What’s Hype, What’s Next" brought together top-tier investors who are shaping the future of decentralized infrastructure. From seed rounds to liquid tokens, the panelists shared how they evaluate, fund and support DePIN projects that blend real-world hardware with crypto-native incentives. This session went beyond the hype, spotlighting what makes DePIN investments compelling and what makes them fail.

🗣️ Rakesh Gidwani: Backing DePINs at the AI + Web3 Intersection

Rakesh Gidwani of Protagonist emphasized the intersection of AI and Web3, focusing on how decentralized AI compute clouds (like his project Ion) are reshaping the infrastructure stack. With deep technical expertise and a hands-on approach, Rakesh underscored the importance of understanding real-world applications before overlaying crypto incentives — a principle guiding Protagonist’s investments in decentralized compute.

🗣️ David Rakusan: Investing Across DePIN, DeFi, and Solana Ecosystems

David Rakusan of RockawayX outlined a diversified approach, highlighting how their funds back DePIN projects that span compute, connectivity and data. From investing in projects like POKT Network to supporting decentralized RPCs and real-world energy solutions, David stressed the need for liquidity, audited metrics and deep market understanding. For RockawayX, DePIN is about traction, revenue,and bridging real-world challenges with tokenized incentives.

🗣️ Vinayak Kurup: Leading Early-Stage Rounds in Mission-Driven Protocols

Vinayak Kurup of EV3 spotlighted the importance of supporting founders with domain expertise. EV3’s focus on pre-seed and seed rounds allows them to partner early with teams tackling challenges in sectors like decentralized energy and mapping. Vinayak emphasized that in DePIN, a great idea is nothing without the right team and that crypto incentives must be integrated into functional, real-world solutions rather than bolted on as an afterthought.

The Problem

The panelists highlighted critical challenges in investing in DePIN:

• Team Dynamics: Without vertical expertise, even promising projects struggle to scale.

• Market Understanding: Many founders underestimate the true market size — or overestimate it — leading to misaligned goals.

• Tokenomics Complexity: Overcomplicated token structures can confuse users and kill adoption before projects gain traction.

• Liquidity Traps: Thinly traded tokens with low float deter serious investors and stall ecosystem growth.

The Solution

To navigate these challenges, the investors shared key strategies:

• Founder-Market Fit: Backing teams with deep industry experience who can execute.

• Simple, Clear Tokenomics: Starting with single-token models and iterating based on real-world usage.

• Demand-Driven Growth: Prioritizing revenue, partnerships, and data transparency over hype cycles.

• Hybrid Financing Models: Exploring debt tranches and creative token structures to align incentives.

Going Beyond

DePIN is emerging as a bridge between crypto and the real world. Investors are now focused on ensuring DePIN projects deliver real utility, with transparent data and sustainable revenue. The next 18 months will be defined by an influx of demand, better product-market fit and the integration of AI and real-time data. The days of hype-only projects are ending — DePIN is proving it can scale beyond the whitepaper.

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