Today we continue to look at Grayscale's new holdings series. Various valuable projects have been rising recently, such as link, uni, ondo, xpr, etc. It can be seen that the leaders in each track have almost risen. The next wave will definitely be even crazier. Let's wait and see. Then for Grayscale's new holdings, we still have the last two tracks left, namely Depin and AI, both of which are very dazzling in this round, so we must hurry to see if the fundamentals of these last few projects have changed.
There are 3 currencies in the DePIN track: Arweave (AR), Helium (HNT), and Akash (AKT).
29. AR (Leader of permanent storage track - Arweave)
The AR project is also one of the top contenders in the storage track. When we discussed it last July, its price was $5.8, and it is now $28, so it has also increased 5 times. The peak in 2024 is $47, so it is indeed a solid 10X project. After the lowest correction down to around $12 in 2024, it is currently in a doubling state but has not yet broken the peak of 2024, so it is still slightly underperforming. However, I believe this project is definitely a top contender. As for whether it can break the 2021 peak of $85, I think there is a great opportunity.
Arweave is a new type of storage that supports data with sustainable permanence, allowing users and developers to truly permanently store data. The utility of the token itself determines its value; AR can be used as encrypted information and entered into the system, and can also serve as a reward to incentivize miners. The main function of AR is to pay for the permanent storage of data, but it also has trading value. Simply put, Arweave's storage mechanism works like this: customers who want to store data upload the data to the Arweave network, only paying a one-time fee for the file to be permanently stored and unchangeable, with free access to read the data.
Arweave was founded in August 2017 and graduated from the Berlin Techstars startup accelerator program in April 2018. As a blockchain-based file storage protocol, Arweave provides a solution called 'Permaweb' for permanent web hosting. Internet users can use the Arweave browser plugin to permanently store digital files and data such as web pages, emails, and social media posts on the blockchain. Arweave previously incentivized miners to permanently store history using proof of access (POA). On February 25, 2021, Arweave completed the new competitive consensus SPoRA upgrade. The SPoRA mechanism reduced the weight of PoW in the previous miner block probability and added the dimension of data access speed.
To solve the problems of chain congestion, high gas fees, and low TPS under traditional blockchain architecture, Arweave has designed different blockchain data structures and proof methods. Unlike other decentralized storage systems like Filecoin, which still use traditional blockchain architecture to incentivize and record transaction information, Arweave adopts on-chain storage. Each node only stores a part of the block, and each block not only links to the previous block like traditional blockchain protocols but also points to a randomly selected previous recall chunk, thus forming a yarn-like block structure called blockweave, where there is no limit on block size. (Filecoin miners' hard drives contain two types of data: one is the transaction data of the entire Filecoin chain, and the other is user-stored information, while Arweave miners' hard drives only contain Arweave's block data, whether transaction information or storage information is all within the block.)
Cost expenses
Arweave:
A one-time payment for permanent storage fees, determined by the estimated future costs of data volume and storage (the cost of storing 1GB of data is approximately 0.2 AR - 0.3 AR, based on the current AR price, it is around $5-7 per GB).
Suitable for long-term storage for users, but the initial cost is relatively high. However, the storage price of Filecoin is similar to that of AR, but Filecoin charges annually while AR is a one-time fee for 200 years.
Current applications
1. Web3 applications and decentralized storage
- Mirror.xyz: A decentralized writing and publishing platform that uses Arweave to store blog and article content, ensuring that creators' works are permanently accessible.
- Lens Protocol: A decentralized social networking protocol that uses Arweave to store user-generated content (such as posts and comments).
- Koii Network: A Web3 network that encourages content creators to upload their work, with Arweave used to store this content to support its copyright protection mechanism.
2. NFT storage
- NFT projects on Solana and Ethereum: Many NFTs based on these chains use Arweave to store images, videos, and metadata to address the issue of traditional IPFS not being able to guarantee persistence.
- MetaPlex: An NFT creation tool for Solana that defaults to using Arweave to store NFT files.
3. Blockchain data archiving
- Kyve: A data archiving protocol that utilizes Arweave to store blockchain and other important data, ensuring data verifiability and long-term preservation.
- The Graph: Some indexed data is stored on Arweave to ensure efficient querying and permanent storage.
4. Data storage and backup
- ArDrive: A file storage and management platform based on Arweave, used for data backup for individuals and businesses.
- Akord: Allows users to securely share and store files, providing privacy protection and permanent storage services.
5. News and information archiving
- Arweave News Gateway: A project that stores and shares important news and historical events.
- WeVerify: A fact-checking tool that uses Arweave to store verified content to prevent tampering.
6. Games and metaverse
- Evermore: A game project based on Arweave that stores important game assets and records.
7. Science and education fields
- Open Access database: Stores academic papers and research data, ensuring long-term availability.
8. DAO and governance
- Snapshot: A decentralized governance platform that uses Arweave to save voting and proposal content.
9. Privacy and compliance applications
- Data compliance tools: Arweave can store compliance records, such as GDPR data, ensuring that they are unchangeable.
Token data
The total token supply is 65 million, and it is now fully circulating. Previously, when we discussed it, only 50% was in circulation, so a large amount of unlocking may affect its performance. After this round of full unlocking, it will soon reach the seal. Its current market value is $1.8 billion, while Filecoin's FDV is as high as $14 billion. From a technical perspective, they are actually on par, but their development strategies may differ. As for whose strategy is better, we can only look at market feedback. At least currently, it is not clear who is higher or lower.
30. HNT (Leader of Depin track - HNT project analysis)
This project was mentioned last year, priced at $5 then, now $9, with a maximum increase of nearly 10 times (1.3-10). However, compared to the peak of $51 in 2021, there is still a large gap. Although we said it was the leader of Depin at that time, it has now been surpassed by many projects. Currently, the leaders of Depin are still Render and AKT.
Introduction
Helium is a peer-to-peer wireless network established to allow low-power IoT devices to connect and communicate with the internet.
Helium encourages users to set up hotspot devices to share wireless network coverage through blockchain and cryptocurrency incentives, thus providing connectivity support for IoT devices and other applications. Helium's hotspot devices can provide LoRaWAN (Long Range, Low Power wireless communication protocol) and 5G services.
Characteristics
1. Low energy consumption with wide coverage, consuming 0.21 kWh per 24 hours, noiseless, radiation-free, and environmentally friendly, with no service fees. To increase the output of miners, use antennas with higher frequencies, and deploy 3 or more machines within a radius of 300m to 5000m. This facilitates hotspots to participate in PoC for higher earnings. Additionally, 30% of the rewards will be given for real data transmission. If there are local IoT applications based on Helium, it is essential to keep the miner online, as turning it off will consume GAS fees, and changing geographical locations will also incur GAS fees.
2. POC consensus mechanism (there are 3 main roles: challenger, challenged, and witness), its official website also provides hotspots for purchase, so you can also understand it as a PoW mining public chain, but its electricity cost is very low, and it is not the case that more devices are better. Due to its consensus, all hotspots within 300 meters will have discounted earnings, so there needs to be an interval of more than 500 meters for better earnings.
3. Wireless communication protocol LoRaWAN, supports bidirectional communication. It supports unauthorized sub-GHz bands, allows the creation of multiple channels, supports channel switching, reduces network interference, and improves data transmission speed.
Token data
The total token supply is 170 million, currently fully circulating. When we discussed it last December, the total supply was 220 million, indicating a deflationary mechanism, reducing by 50 million in a year. It is a dual-token mechanism, where the internal hardware's traffic consumption token is DC (Data Credits), and DC needs to be exchanged for HNT. From its browser, it can be seen that the number of hotspots has indeed been increasing over the past three months.
Finally, to summarize, both of these projects currently look promising. AR is a top contender in storage, while HNT seems to have slightly fallen behind. Although it was an early player in Depin, it has not fully realized its value, as most devices exist primarily to take advantage of its blockchain. The interconnectivity of devices should have real utility, but currently, the leader of Depin has been taken over by the new concepts of GPU sharing (Rndr) and cloud computing (AKT). Comparing these two, they are genuinely practical projects. As time goes on, the market cap must return to projects with substantial value, which is essential for better industry development.