# IoTeX > EVM-compatible L1 purpose-built for DePIN and real-world AI. Device identity (ioID), ZK-verified data (W3bstream), 7+ years mainnet. MiCA-compliant, CF Benchmarks listed. ~$2M TVL. - Scores: Freedom 6/10 (grade C), Returns 4.9/10 (grade D) - Category: other · Token: IOTX - Published: 2026-03-06 · Updated: 2026-10-20 - Canonical: https://ownyourmind.ai/projects/iotex/ - Data (scores + integrity verdicts, JSON): https://ownyourmind.ai/api/projects/iotex.json - Cite as: Own Your Mind (ownyourmind.ai), licence CC BY 4.0. Link the canonical URL. Charts and interactive widgets are omitted here; their data is in the JSON above. --- ## What it does IoTeX is an EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for DePIN (Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks) and real-world AI. It provides the infrastructure for IoT devices, vehicles, robots, and AI agents to function as verified economic participants on-chain. The stack comprises five core components: - **IoTeX L1:** the base blockchain with Roll-DPoS consensus (DPoS + PBFT + VRFs). The top 36 candidates by votes form the delegate pool, 24 randomly selected each epoch via distributed key generation and BLS signatures. The chain produces a block about every 2.5 seconds, measured across a two-week window on IoTeX's own RPC. IIP-42, which proposed halving the block time, is still Status: Draft in the IIP repository, as are IIP-50 (delegate slashing) and IIP-57; IIP-52 carries no status line at all. Read from the staking protocol on 4 October 2026, 123 candidates are registered and 69 hold the 1M IOTX self-stake needed to be active, so the 123 this review cited from November 2025 counts registrations. - **ioID:** decentralised identity framework for machines and AI agents using W3C DIDs and verifiable credentials, represented as NFTs on-chain. Device owners control their data and rewards through on-chain ownership. - **W3bstream:** off-chain verifiable computation layer connecting smart devices to smart contracts using ZK proofs to verify device data without exposing raw data. - **QuickSilver:** real-time AI interaction layer enabling AI agents to process verified DePIN data. - **DIMs** (DePIN Infrastructure Modules): modular toolkit for DePIN builders covering data attestation, identity, staking, and coordination. Founded in 2017 by **Raullen Chai** (CEO, PhD Electrical/Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo; former Senior Software Engineer at Google, Lead Crypto R&D at Uber), **Qevan Guo** (PhD AI/Computer Vision, NUS; former product lead at Facebook), **Jing Sun** (founding partner, Sparkland Capital), and **Xinxin Fan** (PhD Waterloo; former Senior Research Engineer at Bosch). All founders are doxxed with verified credentials. The entity structure is dual: **MachineFi Inc** (Houston, Texas) handles operations, and the **IoTeX Foundation** (Singapore) handles governance. Total funding approximately $70M: ICO ($19.9M, February 2018 at $0.0083), undisclosed round ($50M, Borderless Capital-led, April 2024), and Animoca Brands strategic investment (August 2025, where Animoca also joined as a network validator and network partner). Mainnet launched 22 April 2019. The project has operated continuously for over seven years. On 17 December 2025, IoTeX published a **MiCA-compliant whitepaper** for IOTX, enabling uniform regulatory treatment across all 27 EU member states. On 23 April 2026, IoTeX shipped **Explorer v4**, which exposes AI-readable JSON-LD data, an `/llms.txt` endpoint, and dedicated APIs for AI-agent crawling, a small but on-narrative move for an "AI-native DePIN" L1. ## Value proposition The only L1 blockchain purpose-built for DePIN with integrated device identity, data verification, and AI infrastructure. That is a clear architectural differentiator. ### ioID and W3bstream: device sovereignty at the protocol level **ioID** is the standout innovation: NFT-based on-chain ownership of physical devices with W3C DID/VC standards, a rare combination in DePIN. When you register a device, an ioID NFT is minted, and you provably own the device on-chain and control its data and rewards. This is device-level data sovereignty implemented at the protocol level, not as an application layer. **W3bstream** adds ZK verification for device data. Devices generate data off-chain, W3bstream computes ZK proofs verifying that data meets specific conditions, and the proofs are submitted on-chain. The raw data never touches the blockchain; only the verified proof. This is the right architecture for IoT scale. ### Adoption signals and the institutional bet The metrics tell a mixed story. Our sample of 1,500 blocks across 7 October 2026 finds about 7,000 user transactions a day, far below the 250,000 daily transactions and 8,900 daily active wallets Messari reported for Q1 2025, and IoTeX counts 218 projects including 51 DePIN-specific applications. DePINscan (built by IoTeX) tracks 280+ DePIN projects and 18M+ devices across the broader DePIN space. IoTeX reports QuickSilver AI usage surged 43% in June 2025 and hit 3,000+ daily AI agent queries by late 2025. Protocol revenue reached $110K in Q3 2025, up 16% quarter-on-quarter (per IoTeX's own reporting). Measurable numbers, but still negligible at scale. In October 2025, IoTeX launched the **Real-World AI Foundry** at Token2049 Singapore, an open network for building Real-World Models (RWMs) trained on verified, live data from machines and sensors. Founding partners include **Vodafone, Filecoin, Theta Network, Aethir, HashKey Chain**, and 20+ others. This is IoTeX's most significant strategic play to date, positioning the chain as the data verification layer for decentralised AI training. The **HashKey partnership** (August 2025) established Hong Kong's first AI Ecosystem Center with an IOTX/HKD trading pair on HashKey Exchange, a licensed, regulated venue. **CF Benchmarks** launched the IOTXUSD_RTI institutional pricing index, opening eligibility for ETFs and derivative products. These are substantive institutional on-ramps that go well beyond ordinary exchange listings. ### The counter-narrative: TVL gap, bridge exploit, and pivots The counter-narrative: **~$2M TVL after seven years and $70M+ in funding** (DeFiLlama, 7-day median, 24 September 2026). Same adoption gap that plagues many infrastructure projects. The technology is sound (ZK-verified device data, self-sovereign device identity, high-performance EVM chain) but the market hasn't rewarded it. The token is down roughly 99% from its ATH of $0.2556 (November 2021). **Critical incident:** On 21 February 2026, the **ioTube bridge was exploited for approximately $4.4M** after the validator contract owner account on Ethereum was compromised. The attacker minted 410M unauthorised CIOTX tokens and drained bridge reserves. IoTeX responded with a tiered compensation plan (100% for losses under $10K; staged quarterly payments above $10K with a 10% IOTX bonus). 86% of minted CIOTX was frozen via chain-level controls. The bridge remains suspended pending independent security audits. This is a material security event that undermines trust, though the Foundation's compensation response was swift and structured. The narrative has shifted multiple times: IoT (2018) → MachineFi (2022) → DePIN (2023) → DePIN x AI (2025) → Edge AI (2026). Each pivot builds on the previous one, but the pattern persists. The 2026 mandate is "All in on Edge AI, physically manifested intelligence." For the sovereignty thesis, IoTeX's data sovereignty architecture remains among the strongest in DePIN. ioID with DID/VC standards, W3bstream ZK proofs, device keys stored on-device. This is among the best implementations of device-level data sovereignty in crypto. The founder personally committing code through March 2026 signals serious technical commitment. ## Tokenomics IoTeX states a maximum supply of 10 billion IOTX, and effectively all of it now circulates. Vesting is complete, so no locked supply is left to price in. IOTX also survives in its 2018 form, as an ERC-20 on Ethereum. On 12 October 2026 IoTeX opened a [Redemption Portal](https://hub.iotex.io/redeem) that it says swaps the legacy token for native IOTX at 1:1 with no fees, paid to the same address. Holders send the ERC-20 to a deposit address and sign a message, then IoTeX credits the native coin. Our Ethereum RPC read on 13 October finds no contract code at that deposit address, so the swap rests on IoTeX's own crediting. The ERC-20's total supply still equals the full original mint, so redeemed tokens are held rather than burned. Initial distribution: Ecosystem Fund (30%), Foundation (25%), Private Sale/Investors (24%), Team (15%), Community Rewards (6%). Combined insider allocation (Team + Foundation) was 40%. The ICO raised $19.9M at $0.0083 per IOTX in February 2018. Multiple burn mechanisms exist. **Burn-Drop** allocated 1 billion IOTX to be burned as the first 1 million devices onboard: 900M burned, 100M airdropped to long-term stakers. Approximately 400 million IOTX (~4% of supply) has been burned to date. **IoTeX 2.0** introduces EIP-1559-style gas fee burning and ioID device registration burns. IoTeX 2.0 tokenomics introduces new inflationary staking rewards counterbalanced by these burn mechanisms. The net supply effect depends on community governance votes. If staking emissions exceed burn rate, supply inflates. This creates uncertainty. IOTX is used for gas fees, staking/delegation (4-11% APY depending on delegate), governance voting on IIPs (IoTeX Improvement Proposals), and ioID device registration (which burns IOTX). IIP-50 proposes validator slashing for underperformance, but it's still a Draft in IoTeX's IIP repository. FDV/MCap ratio near 1.0x, with effectively all supply circulating. Listed on Binance, KuCoin, Gate.io, MEXC, and **HashKey Exchange (IOTX/HKD)**; Kraken lists no IOTX pair and Robinhood doesn't appear in CoinGecko's ticker set. Coinbase said on 24 August 2026 that it would suspend IOTX trading on 23 September 2026 following a listing-standards review, and its last reported trade was on that day. CF Benchmarks IOTXUSD_RTI institutional pricing index live. PayPal and Venmo fiat on-ramps available. MiCA-compliant whitepaper (December 2025) enables uniform listing across EU-regulated platforms. ICO investors are underwater after eight years of holding. ## How to participate **Stake IOTX.** Delegate to any of the 69 active candidates (staking protocol, 4 October 2026) via the IoTeX staking portal. 4-11% APY depending on delegate chosen. Auto-stake for 91+ days to qualify for Burn-Drop airdrops. No minimum stake. Technical skill: basic. **Run a Delegate Node.** The top 36 candidates by votes form the pool, from which a 24-member committee is drawn by VRF to produce blocks. Earn block rewards (4 IOTX per block) plus delegator fees. Must attract sufficient stake delegation. Technical skill: advanced. **Build DePIN Applications.** Use DIMs (ioID, W3bstream, QuickSilver) to build DePIN apps. EVM-compatible, so deploy Solidity contracts. Hardware SDKs for Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi. Halo Grants programme available. Technical skill: intermediate. ## Honest assessment ## Freedom Score: 60/100 IoTeX has verifiable data sovereignty innovations with ioID and W3bstream. The 123 delegates previously credited here are registrations: 69 meet the self-stake to be active, and 36 of those form the block-producing pool. The IIPs credited alongside it do not hold up either: IIP-42 and IIP-50 are both Drafts in IoTeX's own repository and neither went to a vote. The ioTube bridge exploit is a security concern but doesn't affect the core protocol's decentralisation posture. **Infrastructure Decentralisation: 12/20.** Own L1 with Roll-DPoS consensus. The staking protocol lists **123 registered candidates**, 69 of them with the 1M IOTX self-stake to be active; the top 36 by votes form the pool, a 24-member committee is drawn from it per epoch via VRF, and nine delegates by vote weight exceed a third (read 4 October 2026). Block time measures about 2.5 seconds, so the throughput work has landed on chain even though IIP-42 itself is still a Draft. Permissionless node operation. Animoca Brands joined as a validator (August 2025). The 123-validator count earlier versions of this review credited is a registration count, and a 24-member committee drawn from a 36-seat pool still concentrates block production. The Foundation steers protocol upgrades. Mainnet has operated continuously since April 2019. On the producing set this is permissionless operation with some centralisation vectors, the 9-12 band's wording, so the score drops to the top of that band. **Governance Decentralisation: 8/20.** The IIP process runs on Snapshot, and it has not held a vote since IIP-40 on 28 October 2024. Seventeen proposals sit in the space and the newest is nearly two years old, so the cadence this review previously called accelerating had already stopped when we described it. IIP-42 never appeared there and reads Status: Draft in IoTeX's own repository; IIP-50 is a Draft too, and IIP-54 does not exist in it. Authoring an IIP and ratifying one are separate acts, and only the first is still happening. Turnout was thinning well before the silence: 485 votes in October 2021 against 140 on the last proposal. Foundation and MachineFi Lab retain implementation control, and governance is off-chain in a venue that has stopped voting. The next protocol change follows the same path. iotex-core v2.5.0, a required release, carries the Zanzibar hard fork that switches on IIP-59: voter rewards computed and paid by the protocol at era boundaries, replacing the off-chain Hermes service ([release note](https://github.com/iotexproject/iotex-bootstrap/blob/master/changelog/v2.5.0-release-note.md)). It activated at block 53,533,081 on 19 October 2026, postponed from 53,155,801 ([IoTeXScan hard-fork history](https://iotexscan.io/hard-fork-history)). [IIP-59](https://github.com/iotexproject/iips/blob/master/iip-59.md) still reads Status: Draft, and Snapshot shows no vote on it. **Token Distribution Fairness: 7/15.** Team (15%) + Foundation (25%) = 40% insider allocation. ICO was public at $0.0083. Effectively all supply now circulating; vesting largely complete. Burn-Drop has burned ~400M IOTX (4%). Initial allocation was heavy but matured supply profile. **Censorship Resistance: 9/15.** Permissionless EVM-compatible chain. No KYC for transacting. Roll-DPoS with a 24-member committee drawn by VRF from the delegate pool each epoch resists casual censorship. IIP-50 slashing is still a Draft, so it can't be credited as a deterrent. With 24 committee members at any given time, and nine delegates by vote weight holding over a third, the active set is small enough that coordinated censorship remains a non-trivial risk. That is the 7-9 band's wording, so the score sits at its top rather than in the band above. **Data Sovereignty: 12/15.** Core design principle and strongest dimension. ioID gives devices self-sovereign identity via W3C DIDs/VCs as NFTs. W3bstream ZK proofs verify device data without exposing raw data. Device keys stored on-device. The Real-World AI Foundry's founding principles explicitly mandate open, verified data governance, reinforcing the sovereignty architecture. Strong data sovereignty implementation for DePIN, though production-scale verification of these guarantees across third-party hardware remains limited. **Open Source Transparency: 12/15.** Apache-2.0 licence. 173 public repos, 3,598 commits, about 1,600 stars on iotex-core. Founder Raullen Chai personally committing code March 2026. IoTeX reports a CertiK audit (no vulnerabilities, formal verification). IIP process public. The **ioTube bridge exploit** (February 2026) revealed that the bridge validator contract owner account was a single point of failure, an operational security gap, though the bridge is peripheral infrastructure rather than core protocol. Bridge suspended pending independent audits. ## Returns Score: 49/100 **Token Utility: 14/20.** IOTX is used for gas, staking/delegation, governance, and ioID device registration (burned). Multiple utility vectors, but gas usage remains minimal with ~$2M TVL. The utility design is strong but the volume isn't there yet. **Value Accrual: 7/20.** Burn-Drop has removed ~400M IOTX (4% of supply). EIP-1559 gas burning and ioID registration burns active under IoTeX 2.0. IoTeX reports protocol revenue of $110K in Q3 2025 (+16% QoQ), measurable but tiny. The Real-World AI Foundry (Vodafone, Filecoin, Theta, 20+ partners) may drive future data verification fees. With ~$2M TVL the actual value being captured remains minimal, but the accrual mechanisms are now live rather than planned. Upgraded from 6 to 7. **Supply Dynamics: 12/20.** Effectively all of the 10B max supply already circulating, with minimal future dilution. FDV/MCap ratio near 1.0x is excellent. Burn-Drop deflationary. However, IoTeX 2.0 introduces new inflationary staking rewards. Net effect depends on community governance. If emissions exceed burns, supply inflates. **Revenue Sustainability: 5/25.** Gas fees from about 7,000 daily user transactions (our October 2026 block sample), with fees kept minimal by design (IoT affordability). ~$2M TVL after 7+ years. IoTeX reports protocol revenue of $110K in Q3 2025, while DeFiLlama counts $91.7K of gross chain fees over the trailing year, which are chain fees rather than protocol revenue. Token Terminal also tracks its gas fees. The Real-World AI Foundry and Edge AI pivot may generate new revenue streams, but these are forward-looking. $70M funding provides runway but protocol-level sustainability remains weak. **Liquidity & Access: 11/15.** 50 tickers across 45 venues, with Binance, MEXC, Gate, KuCoin and **HashKey Exchange (IOTX/HKD)** all trading, plus PayPal and Venmo fiat on-ramps. **CF Benchmarks IOTXUSD_RTI** institutional pricing enables ETF and derivatives eligibility, and the **MiCA-compliant whitepaper** (December 2025) allows uniform listing across 27 EU member states. Coinbase suspended IOTX trading on 23 September 2026, as announced on 24 August, so the second of the two tier-1 venues this score rested on has left and Binance is the one that remains. The band's "2+ tier-1 CEXs" clause no longer holds, which is what the point costs. ### Quadrant: B (High Freedom, Low Returns) IoTeX sits in Quadrant B: a sovereignty play with demonstrable technical differentiation but unproven commercial traction. ### Key risks - **ioTube bridge exploit (February 2026).** $4.4M stolen via compromised validator contract owner on Ethereum. Bridge suspended. Compensation plan issued, but the single-key vulnerability should never have existed on a chain that preaches device-level security. - **~$2M TVL after 7+ years.** The most damning metric. $70M+ in funding hasn't driven meaningful on-chain adoption. TVL has barely moved in 12 months. - **~99% from ATH.** ICO investors are underwater after eight years. Long-term holders deeply in the red. - **IoTeX 2.0 inflation risk.** New inflationary staking rewards may exceed burn rate, increasing supply. - **DePIN competition.** [peaq](https://ownyourmind.ai/projects/peaq/), Helium, and general-purpose L1s/L2s compete for DePIN projects. - **Governance has stopped voting.** The Snapshot space that carries the IIP process has not put a proposal to token holders since October 2024. - **Narrative pivot fatigue.** IoT → MachineFi → DePIN → DePIN x AI → Edge AI. Five pivots in eight years. - **Foundation concentration.** MachineFi Lab and IoTeX Foundation retain significant influence despite decentralisation claims. ## Score change log | Date | Score | Change | Reason | | - | - | - | - | | 2026-10-20 | Data | N/A | Zanzibar activated at block 53,533,081 on 19 October 2026, so IIP-59 voter rewards now run on chain while IIP-59 is still a Draft and Snapshot's last vote is IIP-40 (October 2024). Scores unchanged. | | 2026-10-13 | Data | N/A | Recorded the IOTX Redemption Portal (12 Oct 2026), which IoTeX says converts legacy ERC-20 IOTX to native 1:1 with no fees; its deposit address holds no contract code, so crediting is off-chain. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-10-07 | Data | N/A | "No Token Terminal tracking" corrected: Token Terminal lists IoTeX with a fees metric (read 7 October 2026). Scores unchanged. | | 2026-10-07 | Data | N/A | Daily transactions re-measured: a 1,500-block sample on 7 Oct 2026 finds about 7,000 user transactions a day (about 41,000 actions including per-block reward grants), against the 250,000 Messari reported for Q1 2025. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-10-04 | Data | N/A | Candidate set read from the staking protocol: 123 registered, 69 with the self-stake to be active, a top-36 pool and a 24-seat committee. The "50 staked candidates" explorer figure behind the 24 Sep correction matches none of these sets. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-10-04 | Data | N/A | Recorded the Zanzibar hard fork in iotex-core v2.5.0, which switches on IIP-59 on-chain voter rewards at block 53,533,081 (about 19 October) while IIP-59 is still a Draft with no vote. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-09-25 | Freedom | Infrastructure 13 → 12, Censorship Resistance 10 → 9 (Freedom 62 → 60, C held) | The corrected 50-candidate, 24-seat set with a third of vote weight in nine delegates is a mid-band centralisation vector, and coordinated censorship stays a non-trivial risk while IIP-50 slashing is a Draft. | | 2026-09-24 | Data | N/A | TVL ~$1.2M to ~$2M (DeFiLlama); validator set corrected to 50 staked candidates with a 24-seat committee (was 123 validators, 36 consensus); IIP-50 slashing is a Draft; Kraken/Robinhood dropped; Coinbase suspension now past; $110K revenue attributed. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-09-23 | Data | N/A | Consensus wording aligned with IoTeX's docs: a 24-member committee drawn from a pool of at least 36 delegates. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-09-23 | Data | N/A | Integrity records re-cut: 3 claims now quote IoTeX's own pages verbatim and 5 are our own measurements. Scores unchanged. | | 2026-09-07 | Both | Liquidity & Access 12 → 11 (Returns 50 → 49, D held), Governance 10 → 8 (Freedom 64 → 62, C held) | Executes the September review's deferred liquidity proposal: Coinbase suspends IOTX on 23 September so the "2+ tier-1 CEXs" clause fails. Governance drops to the 5-8 band, the Snapshot venue having not voted since October 2024. | | 2026-09-06 | Data | N/A | WS3b governance rail: the IIP process has not put a proposal to a Snapshot vote since IIP-40 in October 2024, and IIP-42, cited across four surfaces as passed, reads Status: Draft in IoTeX's own repository. Block time measures about 2.5 seconds, so the throughput landed without a ratifying vote. Governance 10/20 flagged for October. | | 2026-09-06 | Data | N/A | Research JSON resynced to the frontmatter Returns breakdown. Value Accrual 6 and Liquidity & Access 9 in the JSON were the values the 2026-03-12 Returns 46 to 50 move superseded. No published score changed. | | 2026-09-05 | Data | N/A | Coinbase announced on 24 Aug 2026 that it suspends IOTX trading on 23 Sep 2026 after a listing-standards review, read first-hand from the @CoinbaseMarkets post. Removed from the venue lists in the evidence string and the Liquidity section. Liquidity & Access 12/15 is a downgrade candidate once the suspension takes effect. | | 2026-08-15 | Data | N/A | Circulating supply bound to the live source. The strip asserted 100% where CoinGecko reads 94.41% of max; prose moved to "effectively all supply". | | 2026-08-15 | Data | N/A | Circulating supply de-hardcoded into the live `` component, and the stale percentage corrected from 94.4% to effectively 100% (CoinGecko). Removes the last of the vesting-overhang framing. No score change. | | 2026-08-10 | Data | N/A | WS3 coldstart run added two grounded verdicts: supply_dynamics (10B / 94.4% circulating vs CoinGecko, `match`, api) and open_source_transparency (iotex-core Apache-2.0 + active, `match`, api). The bundle's Ethereum-contract facts (top-10 81.72%, `pausable`) are the ioTube-bridged ERC-20, not IoTeX L1, so category-excluded. No score change. | | 2026-06-26 | Data | N/A | DefiLlama LlamaAI harvest cross-check, verified independently (api.llama.fi + CoinGecko). Chain TVL has roughly halved to ~$1.2M (DefiLlama, from the $2.5M cited across the piece), sharpening the adoption-gap thesis; refreshed every instance. ATH decline refreshed to ~99% (verified -98.9% from $0.2556) and the ATH date corrected to November 2021 (the TokenFactsStrip had it as "Since 2018", which is the ICO year, not the all-time high). Circulating 94.4% (~9.44B of 10B) and FDV-equal-to-market-cap both confirmed. No score change. | | 2026-05-02 | Editorial | N/A | Added Explorer v4 launch (23 April 2026): AI-readable JSON-LD, `/llms.txt`, and AI-agent crawl APIs. No score change. | | 2026-04-09 | Freedom | 70 → 64 | Cross-project score-consistency pass: recalibrated the March staleness-audit bump to the shared rubric. Infrastructure 15→13, Governance 12→10, Censorship 11→10, Data Sovereignty 13→12. | | 2026-03-12 | Freedom | 60 → 70 | Validator set doubled (60→123), IIP-42 throughput upgrade, governance acceleration. Infrastructure 13→15, Governance 10→12, Censorship 10→11, Data Sovereignty 12→13. | | 2026-03-12 | Returns | 46 → 50 | EIP-1559 burns live, HashKey exchange listing, CF Benchmarks index, MiCA whitepaper. Value Accrual 6→7, Liquidity 9→12. | | 2025-03-06 | Both | N/A | Initial publish. Freedom 60/100, Returns 46/100. |