Helen is Marketing Team Lead at Motion Trade with 4+ years in Web3 and crypto marketing. Before joining Motion Trade, she built and led the marketing function at CLS Global and managed social media campaigns for a portfolio of crypto clients at Ninja Promo. She specializes in turning complex trading products into clear stories.
DePIN token liquidity is shaped by one fact: the network pays its node operators in tokens, while operators pay for hardware, electricity, bandwidth and hosting in ordinary money. A meaningful share of rewards is therefore sold every day, which makes operator selling the main structural flow the order book has to absorb. Node sales, where operators buy licences that later earn tokens, add a second, predictable wave of supply when rewards begin. On the other side, networks with burn-and-mint or buyback designs turn customer usage into token demand, and that demand has to be executed without disturbing the book. The 2026 numbers show why getting this right matters: CryptoRank put the DePIN sector's market capitalisation at 3.46 billion dollars in July 2026, about 83 percent below its March 2024 peak, even as Messari reported real on-chain revenue of around 72 million dollars in 2025 and leading networks trading at 10 to 25 times revenue.
Decentralised physical infrastructure networks occupy an unusual position in crypto. They are among the few sectors with measurable customers and revenue, from wireless coverage and storage to GPU compute and energy, and they are also among the sectors whose tokens have fallen furthest. The gap between the two is partly a liquidity story. A DePIN token carries a structural sell flow that most other tokens do not, and a project that does not plan for it watches its operators' rewards lose value, its supply side shrink, and its exchange listings come under review. This article sets out the data and explains how a market making engagement should be built for a DePIN network.
The DePIN market in 2026
Estimates of the sector's size vary because there is no agreed list of which tokens count as DePIN. By CryptoRank's measure, as reported in July 2026, DePIN market capitalisation fell from 20.2 billion dollars in March 2024 to 3.46 billion on 15 July 2026, a drawdown of about 83 percent. Messari's State of DePIN 2025 report, covered by Cointelegraph in January 2026, used a broader definition and put the sector at around 10 billion dollars, generating about 72 million dollars of on-chain revenue in 2025, with leading revenue-producing networks trading at 10 to 25 times revenue. Messari projected that revenue could pass 100 million dollars in 2026.
Exchange data is more encouraging than prices. In CryptoRank's July 2026 listing study, 107 DePIN tokens were listed on major exchanges in 2025 and 7 of them, or 7 percent, had been delisted by mid-2026, roughly half the rate for GameFi and below the rate for memecoins. Exchanges appear to treat networks with real usage more patiently, but only while their markets remain healthy. The general rules are in why tokens get delisted.
What makes DePIN liquidity different
Operators sell to cover real costs
A node operator runs physical equipment with real running costs. Rewards arrive in the network's token, while electricity, connectivity, rent and hardware financing are paid in local currency. Many operators therefore sell rewards regularly, often shortly after they are distributed. Unlike speculative selling, this flow does not stop when sentiment improves, because the bills keep arriving. The daily dollar value of rewards that operators sell is the baseline the book has to absorb.
Node sales create a scheduled wave
Many networks fund their supply side by selling node licences before or around launch. Buyers of those licences expect to recover their cost from rewards, which gives them a strong incentive to sell early rewards as soon as they can. When rewards for a large cohort of licence holders begin on the same date, the effect on the order book resembles a cliff unlock, and it should be planned in the same way. The general approach to launch flow is in the first 48 hours after TGE.
Usage can create demand, if the design routes it
DePIN customers usually pay in fiat or stablecoins. Whether that payment becomes token demand depends on the design. In burn-and-mint models, used by networks such as Helium and Render, customer payments are converted into token burns, which creates buy flow linked to usage. In buyback models, part of the revenue is used to buy tokens on the market. Where neither exists, usage growth does not touch the order book at all. The design side is covered in tokenomics design in 2026.
Operators are concentrated in particular places
Hardware networks grow where equipment is cheap to deploy and run, so operators are often concentrated in specific countries. Their selling goes through the exchanges and fiat ramps available to them, which may not be the venues the project prioritised for listings. Liquidity has to be present where operators actually sell, or the price on those venues drifts away from the rest of the market.
| Feature of DePIN tokens | Liquidity consequence | What the engagement should include |
|---|---|---|
| Operator rewards paid in tokens | Daily selling to cover real-world costs | Depth sized against the dollar value of rewards operators typically sell |
| Node licence sales | A large reward start date behaves like a cliff unlock | Pre-agreed depth and inventory around reward start dates |
| Burn-and-mint or buyback design | Usage-linked buy flow that can move a thin book | Algorithmic execution of burns and buybacks, coordinated with the desk |
| Customers pay in fiat or stablecoins | No token demand unless the design routes it | A realistic demand assumption in the liquidity budget |
| Geographically concentrated operators | Selling concentrated on certain venues and ramps | Liquidity on the venues operators use, with prices aligned across all venues |
How to structure market making for a DePIN token
Begin with the operator economics. Estimate rewards per day, the share operators typically sell, and how that share changes with token price and operating costs. When the token falls, operators must sell more tokens to cover the same bills, which accelerates selling in exactly the conditions where depth is thinnest. The liquidity plan should be sized for that case, not for an average month. The general method is in how much liquidity a token needs.
Treat node reward start dates as unlocks. Put them on the desk's calendar, fund inventory ahead of them, and communicate clearly with licence holders about when and how rewards begin.
Execute burns and buybacks carefully. A burn programme that buys tokens with a large market order on one venue moves the price, invites front-running and wastes part of its own budget. Algorithmic execution spread over time and venues, coordinated with whoever quotes the book, gets more tokens for the same spend. The same principles apply in reverse to treasury sales, as covered in selling treasury tokens without crashing the price.
Map where operators sell. Ask the community and the data where rewards go after they are claimed, and make sure those venues are quoted and aligned with the rest of the market. Motion Trade's approach for the sector is described on our DePIN projects page.
What a market maker cannot do for a DePIN network
A desk can absorb operator selling, smooth reward start dates and execute burns efficiently. It cannot make customers pay for the network's service, and it cannot offset a reward schedule that pays operators far more in tokens than the network earns from customers. Messari's emphasis on revenue in its 2025 report reflects the same point: the networks that held up were the ones whose usage generated real income. Liquidity buys the time to build that income, and it is most valuable when the project uses that time well.
FAQ
Why is DePIN token liquidity different from other tokens?
Because node operators receive rewards in tokens but pay real-world costs in fiat, so many of them sell rewards regularly. That creates a continuous structural sell flow, alongside scheduled waves when node licence rewards begin, which the order book must absorb every day.
How big is the DePIN sector in 2026?
Estimates vary by definition. CryptoRank put DePIN market capitalisation at 3.46 billion dollars in July 2026, about 83 percent below its March 2024 peak. Messari's broader measure put the sector at around 10 billion dollars, with about 72 million dollars of on-chain revenue in 2025.
Do node sales affect a DePIN token's price?
They can. Licence buyers aim to recover their cost from rewards and often sell early rewards quickly. When rewards start for many licence holders at once, the effect on the order book resembles a cliff unlock and needs planned depth and inventory.
Does network usage create demand for DePIN tokens?
Only if the token design routes it. In burn-and-mint models, customer payments lead to token burns, and in buyback models revenue is used to buy tokens. Where neither mechanism exists, customers paying in fiat or stablecoins do not create token demand.
How should a DePIN project execute token burns or buybacks?
Through algorithmic execution spread over time and venues, coordinated with the market maker quoting the book. Large market orders on a single venue move the price, attract front-running and reduce the number of tokens the budget buys.
Are DePIN tokens delisted often?
Less often than some sectors. CryptoRank found that 7 percent of DePIN tokens listed in 2025 had been delisted by mid-2026, compared with 14 percent for GameFi. Tokens are still removed when their spread, depth and price consistency fall below exchange thresholds.
