Why two DP projects topped the top 100 with double-digit earnings

While Bitcoin And Ethereum Staying flat for the day, two tokens linked to Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) are on the rise.

Akash Network and Zebec Network tokens posted monster gains, with AKT up 52.4% and ZBC up 38.5% over the past day. According to CoinGecko data, at the time of writing, AKT is trading at $6.29 and ZBC at $0.03473. Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin kept its foot above $66,000 and the price of Ethereum lost some ground to trade below $3,200.

DPin is a very popular category in crypto lately. It involves using blockchains to secure networks of physical hardware such as sensors, wireless infrastructure, power grids and other applications. Owning all the computing power a company might need is expensive and burdensome, but placing everything under one cloud computing service provider is risky. Hence the appeal of DePin, which allows people to monetize hardware even if it's not enough to fill a data center.

Earlier today, UpBit, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea, announced that it now supports deposits and withdrawals for the Akash Network AKT token. Launched in October 2020, the token is used to “rent” assets from members of the decentralized network through staking and the main currency.

UpBit is one of the largest centralized crypto exchanges, according to CoinGecko, with a normal volume of $1.3 billion in the last 24 hours. The exchange was launched in October 2017 and was the first crypto exchange to be licensed in South Korea. At the beginning of this year, it was licensed to provide the services to merchants in Singapore.

Another thing going for the DePIN project is that it supports Chat Llama 3, the new open source model of Meta AI.

“Try the new model from Meta AI for yourself without creating an account,” the project wrote on Twitter last week. “Completely Free and License Free”

Meanwhile, the rise of the Zebec network doesn't seem to have anything to do with new token lists or free access to AI models. Instead, the DPin project got a huge boost from crypto degens.

Its ZBEC instant card allows cardholders to spend meme coins—like BasedBrett (BRETT) and TIMMI—in real life with a Visa card. But all the usual caveats apply: their prices are highly volatile and many crypto traders end up betting everything on who they think will be the next DOGE or PEPE.

But while Zebeck is getting a strong tailwind from rampant enthusiasm, it's not just about meme coins.

On Monday, Deepin Project announced on Twitter that its product collection is now included in the Circle ecosystem. That means developers can now use USDC to enable seamless real-world payments and payroll, the team wrote.

Last week, the team shared a snapshot showing that more than 200 customers are using the Zebec network to process an estimated $37 million monthly payroll for more than 10,000 employees.