Aethir Data Analysis Report: Insights into the Present and Future of the DePIN Track

Original author: Yue Xiaoyu (X: @yuexiaoyu111)

The leading project in the decentralized computing track, Aethir, is one I have discussed multiple times and is a key focus for me.

Aethir's recently launched Eigen ATH Vault allows community users to participate in profit sharing from its decentralized GPU network by staking ATH tokens.

This time, let's analyze this project from a data perspective to help everyone evaluate whether it is worth participating in. @AethirCloud @AethirMandarin

1. Core Data Breakdown of Aethir

According to information disclosed by Token Terminal, Aethir's cumulative fees have reached 55 million USD, and its annual revenue is approximately 110 million USD.

This income level is considered impressive in the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) field. In comparison, competitors like Render Network have an annual revenue of only about 40 million dollars.

Aethir's network covers 95 countries and has 425,000 enterprise-grade GPU containers, showcasing significant scale advantages.

Let's take a look at a few core data points:

(1) Quarterly Revenue and Expense Conversion Rate:

According to the quarterly expense and revenue charts provided by Token Terminal, in the second quarter of 2024, Aethir's expenses amounted to $25 million, and the revenue was $20 million, with the ratio of expenses converted to revenue reaching 80%.

This conversion rate indicates that Aethir's profitability is good, but 20% of the fees are used for network maintenance and community incentives.

In contrast, centralized cloud services like AWS usually have operating costs that can account for 40%, while Aethir's decentralized model indeed has advantages in cost control.

(2) Daily Active Addresses and User Growth:

In early 2025, Aethir's daily active addresses stabilized between 5,000 and 7,000, showing an approximate year-on-year growth of 30%.

This growth trend is closely related to the boom of Web3 games and AI applications.

In 2024, the global cloud gaming market size grew by 20% to reach 5 billion dollars, while the AI training market also grew by 25%, expected to reach 300 billion dollars by 2027.

The user growth of Aethir indicates that it has seized the opportunity in high-performance computing demands.

(3) Network Scale and Governance Structure:

Aethir's network has over 91,000 Checker Nodes, held by more than 22,000 community members.

This decentralized governance model reduces the risk of single points of failure, and compared to centralized cloud services, operational risks are approximately 15% to 20% lower.

In addition, in 2024 Aethir added nodes in 10 new countries, increasing its coverage by 12%, which is much faster than the expansion rate of centralized competitors.

2. Aethir's Cost Advantages

To determine whether a business model is good or not, one aspect is to look at the revenue, while the other is to look at the cost items.

(1) Cost advantages of decentralized GPU networks:

Aethir reduces computing costs by approximately 25% by integrating idle hardware resources globally.

Taking NVIDIA's A100 GPU as a comparison, its market price is around 10,000 to 15,000 USD, while Aethir's distributed model significantly reduces the cost of use for enterprises through a shared economy.

For example, an AI company wants to train a model with 75 million parameters. The traditional method might require renting 10 A100 GPUs for a month, costing around $100,000, but through Aethir's network, this cost could be reduced to $75,000.

This cost advantage gives Aethir a strong competitive edge in the AI training market.

(2) Strategies for Deploying Smart Contracts:

Aethir's smart contracts are deployed on Ethereum and Arbitrum, with Arbitrum serving as a Layer-2 solution that reduces transaction costs by around 70%.

At the beginning of 2025, the average gas fee for Ethereum is approximately 5 to 10 dollars, while Arbitrum is only 1 to 2 dollars.

This choice not only reduces Aethir's operating costs but also makes its services more accessible to a larger number of users, especially allowing it to better serve developing countries (which account for 50% of the countries it covers).

This will allow Aethir to capture a larger market share among SME clients.

(3) Competition with Centralized Cloud Services:

Compared to centralized cloud services like AWS, Aethir has advantages in cost and flexibility. AWS's GPU instances (such as G 5) are billed by the hour, costing about $3 per hour, while Aethir's on-demand usage model could reduce the cost to $2 per hour.

In addition, Aethir's community governance model allows it to respond more quickly to market demands, such as the addition of node coverage in 10 new countries in 2024, while AWS's regional expansion typically takes several years.

3. Is it worth participating in the Eigen ATH Vault?

First, let's talk about a few advantages:

(1) Passive Income: By staking ATH, users can earn a certain annual yield, making it a stable source of passive income for those who are optimistic about Aethir in the long term.

(2) Ecological Support: The staking of ATH supports Aethir's GPU network, helping it serve more AI and gaming enterprises, indirectly promoting the value growth of ATH.

(3) Low Threshold: The Eigen ATH Vault lowers the barrier to entry for participating in the Aethir network, allowing users to share profits without having to operate their own nodes.

Overall, Aethir has carved out a niche in the high-performance computing market through its decentralized GPU network, cost advantages, and data transparency.

The Eigen ATH Vault, as part of its ecological incentives, provides users with the opportunity to participate in profit sharing, while also reflecting Aethir's strategic layout in attracting community support.

We can continue to keep an eye on this project.

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