Messari Monthly: October 2025
Key Insights
- DoubleZero’s 2Z launch marked one of the year’s most significant DePIN debuts. Despite early controversy, the network has onboarded over 24% of Solana validators and is rapidly establishing itself as core low-latency infrastructure for next-generation blockchains.
- USD.AI is emerging as a novel bridge between the AI infrastructure boom and onchain finance. Its model taps into both the $250 billion GPU-as-a-service market and the upcoming shift away from Treasury-dependent yields.
- YieldBasis’ presale raised $2.5 million at a $200 million FDV after attracting $196 million in commitments (78x oversubscription), while its Curve pools hit $30 million TVL within days. Backtests show the protocol’s leveraged LP model could deliver ~20% average annualized returns, outperforming traditional AMM LP positions.
- MetaDAO’s shift from pure governance tooling to a futarchy-powered launchpad marked a clear turning point. Since introducing its anti-rug ICO platform, META is up 330%, and projects like mtnCapital and OmniPair now see higher proposal activity than leading Solana DAOs, signaling real product-market fit for futarchy-driven launches.
This monthly report showcases four distinct perspectives from the Enterprise team for October. Each section features a unique chart or graphic, accompanied by in-depth analysis that contextualizes the data and examines its broader implications for the crypto industry.
DoubleZero: Zero to Hero or Straight to Zero?
Dylan is a Sr. Enterprise Research Analyst focusing on DePIN, DeFi, AI, and RWAs. He previously worked as a digital assets investment analyst at T. Rowe Price and in venture capital. Dylan is a graduate of Princeton University and co-founded the Princeton Blockchain Club.
Prior to joining Messari, Chris was the Growth Lead at a Paradigm and a16z-backed gaming startup called LootRush. His primary focus is Consumer Products, Music x Crypto, Gaming, Digital Art, and market buying local tops.
Qorban was previously an analyst at a stablecoin startup. His primary interests are DeFi, stablecoins, and macro finance.
Sam was previously a product manager at ether.fi, as well as LifeMed AI. He graduated from Ohio State University, where he founded the Ohio State Blockchain Club. He is now an Enterprise Research Analyst at Messari focused on finding the next best applications and protocols in internet finance.