Our thesis on why Solana is best positioned as the settlement layer for DePIN technologies.
DePIN networks live or die on their settlement layer — the blockchain that verifies contributions and pays operators. That layer has to handle enormous volumes of small, frequent transactions cheaply and quickly, or the economics of paying thousands of independent hardware operators stop working. This is our thesis on why Solana is best positioned for that job, and what it means for networks like Helium that have built on it.
A network paying out thousands of hardware operators for coverage or data contributed — potentially many times a day, per operator — needs a settlement layer built for volume, not a chain optimized for occasional high-value transfers. Three things matter most: transaction cost low enough that frequent small payouts don't get eaten by fees, throughput high enough to handle network-wide activity without backlog, and finality fast enough that operators see confirmed payouts quickly.
These are the factors behind our view, not a claim of certainty — chains and their tradeoffs change.
Fees low enough that paying out small, frequent operator rewards doesn't erode the value of the payout itself.
Built to process a high volume of transactions, which matters when a network is settling activity from a large, distributed operator base.
An active developer and tooling ecosystem makes it easier for DePIN projects to build, audit, and maintain the infrastructure their token model depends on.
Helium — among the largest DePIN networks — migrated its token and governance infrastructure onto Solana, citing it as a better fit than the chain it moved from.
LML deploys and maintains the physical infrastructure these networks depend on. Tell us about your building.
This page reflects LML's own opinion and is not investment, financial, or token advice, and should not be relied on for any investment decision. LML is not affiliated with the Solana Foundation and is not a validator, exchange, or financial services provider — we are the service technicians who deploy hardware for networks that happen to use this settlement layer.