Assessing Solana’s DePIN ecosystem – Helium and Render

Key Takeaways

Which DePIN project has the larger user base on Solana?

Helium, thanks to millions of migrated hotspots and strong Helium Mobile adoption.

Which project shows higher trading activity?

Render posts higher trading volumes and faster Token Turnover.

Helium [HNT] and Render [RNDR] have become the two loudest names in Solana’s [SOL] DePIN push. One is building a community-run wireless network, and the other is pushing decentralized GPU power.

Both are growing fast, both are drawing in new users, and both claim to be the future of real-world infrastructure on-chain. Which of these models is showing more strength?

Helium by the numbers

Helium is one of the earliest and strongest DePIN projects, building decentralized wireless networks for IoT and 5G. A major turning point came in April 2023, when millions of Helium hotspots migrated to Solana.

Since then, Helium Mobile has become its biggest growth engine, offering $20 unlimited data plans and rewarding users for helping expand coverage.

With support for different network types and a partnership with AT&T for nationwide service, Helium is a power player.

Source: Token Terminal

Token Terminal data showed that Helium’s market cap and trading volume have fluctuated over the last three years, with spikes during major network events.

Source: Token Terminal

Revenue and Fees have steadily grown, especially through 2025, even as Active Addresses have gradually declined.

Source: Token Terminal

A look at Render

Render Network is a global marketplace for GPU power, letting people rent out their unused computing resources to creators and developers. Moving from Ethereum [ETH] to Solana made the system faster and cheaper to use, especially for constant small payments during rendering jobs.

At its peak, Render earned about $746,000 in monthly revenue.

Source: Token Terminal

Token Terminal data showed Render’s market cap and trading volume rising during late-2023 and early-2024, followed by a gradual cool-down.

Network activity is also similar to this pattern, with spikes in Active Addresses during major usage periods before settling into lower ranges through 2025.

Source: Token Terminal

When placed next to Helium, Render’s user base was far smaller. Even so, its trading volume and Token Turnover remained significantly higher, signaling stronger speculation and faster liquidity cycling.