DePIN News: Earn While Training AI for Free? DePIN Updates

DePIN News: Earn While Training AI for Free? DePIN Updates

The freshest DePIN updates across the industry so you never miss a beat.


In this issue

πŸ“Š Scannit: Powering AI with real-world data

πŸ›œ Dabba: Leading the DeWi data race

πŸ‘€ Anyone Network goes mainstream

πŸ’° Helium: Reallocating Mobile Mapping rewards


ROI recap of the week

Helium NOVA WiFi unit count rose to 31,709, up 219 week-over-week, while converted WiFi climbed 166 to 80,892. High-performing indoor hotspots earn about 4.78 HNT/day (~$10.27) with an ROI near 24 days, while average indoor units return roughly 0.59 HNT/day (197 days ROI) and outdoor units around 0.32 HNT/day (714 days ROI). If you’re scaling deployments, consider 20x Bundle Helium Mobile WiFi Indoor Hotspot and for external coverage 10x Bundle Helium Mobile Outdoor Wifi Hotspot.


WeatherXM units dipped slightly, with network quality at 70% and long ROIs near 8 years. Geodnet added 89 units, offering up to ~$1.68/day and a ~413-day ROI; if you’re building RTK coverage, see 5x Bundle Geodnet MobileCM (Triple-band).


Aethir Edge devices earn about ~$0.79/day (~1,772 days ROI); for multi-site setups, review 5x Bundle Aethir Edge.


Entropy earnings fell to ~$0.69/day, down ~$0.29 from last week, with NFT entry costs around ~$257 and an estimated ~373-day ROI. Overall, moderate gains continue across most networks despite some softening returns.


What’s new in DePIN this week

πŸ“Š New Project Alert: Scannit

Scannit is a new Solana-based platform (Android and iOS) that helps companies collect structured real-world data for AI training and analyticsβ€”and it’s completely free to use.


Imagine you’re teaching an AI to recognize dogs. It needs thousands of real images to understand what a dog looks like. Scannit solves this by offering micro-tasks (β€œquests”) where users can scan receipts, take photos, record short videos, or upload audio clips. You always opt in to each taskβ€”no background data collection.


In exchange, you earn points that convert to $SCAN tokens. Scannit then monetizes the data by selling high-quality, human-sourced datasets to AI companies. This human data market is projected to reach ~$47B by 2030.


Why it matters: Unlike synthetic data (AI-generated data used to train other AIs), Scannit’s human-collected datasets help prevent degraded model outputs. For example, real videos of rock-paper-scissors movements can outperform glitchy synthetic setsβ€”real data wins. Check it out: https://scannit.io


Dabba leading the data race πŸš€

Recent data shows that Dabba is now transmitting the most data among Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) projects, even surpassing Helium.


Daily traffic snapshots (from explorers):

  • Dabba: ~144 TB/day
  • Helium: ~46 TB/day
  • Wayru: ~6 TB/day
  • K1, Roam, Wicrypt, Xnet, World Mobile: No public data available


That’s nearly 3x Helium’s daily trafficβ€”clear signs of strong network activity and growing real-world usage.


Anyone Network goes mainstream

The Anyone Network VPN project plans to launch mainstream ads across Facebook, X, and Instagram, aiming to reach non-crypto users and compete with established VPN brands like NordVPN.


It’s a bold push to bring decentralized VPNs to wider audiences. While traditional VPNs still have broader trust, this campaign could help break the crypto β€œecho chamber” and highlight the benefits of decentralized networks.


Helium: Reallocating Mobile Mapping rewards

Currently, 20% of HNT emissions in the Mobile network are set aside for Mobile Mapping rewards. Even with more mappers since Helium Mobile’s launch, results haven’t matched expectations.


The proposal simplifies things by reallocating those rewards: 10% of emissions to the Service Provider Rewards Pool and 10% to the Data Rewards Pool.


TL;DR: Hotspot deployers should expect a small rewards boost and no more crypto for mappingβ€”only points. Details: HIP-148.


Latest DePIN shorts


Building Strong DePIN Communities Through Storytelling β†’

Maximize Profits: Watch Hardware Resale Prices β†’


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