Peaq

Peaq is a Layer-1 blockchain built from the ground up to power Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks, commonly called DePIN, and Machine Real-World Assets (MRWAs). Rather than serving as a general-purpose blockchain, Peaq targets a specific and growing market: connecting physical machines, devices, and infrastructure to the decentralized economy. Think of it as the operating system for a world where autonomous machines can own identities, transact with each other, and generate verifiable economic value.

The project was founded in 2017 by Till Wendler, Leonard Dorlöchter, and Max Thake, who built the platform based on their work at EoT Labs, an enterprise IoT development company. Their hands-on experience with real-world machine infrastructure informed every design decision in the Peaq protocol. After years of testing enterprise applications, the founders concluded no existing blockchain was purpose-built for machine-to-machine economies and set out to build one.

Peaq is built on the Substrate framework, offering Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility and support for Rust-based smart contracts. This makes it accessible to developers from multiple ecosystems without requiring a new toolset. The network currently processes up to 10,000 transactions per second, with architecture designed to scale beyond 100,000 TPS after planned upgrades. Transaction costs are around $0.00025 per operation, making high-frequency machine interactions economically viable at scale.

The platform serves several distinct but overlapping use cases. First, it provides a home for DePIN projects needing affordable, high-throughput infrastructure to coordinate physical devices on-chain. Projects like Silencio, which crowdsources noise pollution data, and MapMetrics, a decentralized navigation platform active in 167 countries, have deployed on Peaq. Second, Peaq enables machine tokenization, allowing physical assets like electric vehicles, solar panels, charging stations, or industrial robots to be represented as digital assets, earn revenue, and participate in decentralized finance. Third, the network supports AI agent infrastructure through integrations that let autonomous programs manage machine operations without constant human input.

To speed building on the network, Peaq provides pre-built modular tools including Peaq ID, which assigns unique on-chain identities to machines; role-based access control; machine payment processing; data verification and storage; and decentralized indexing. Developers can deploy these functions via a JavaScript SDK with minimal code, greatly reducing the barrier to launching a production-ready DePIN application.

Peaq’s mainnet went live in mid-November 2024, followed by sharp growth. At the end of 2024, roughly 258,000 wallets were active. By the end of Q1 2025, that number grew to 3.5 million, a 1,256% increase in three months, averaging over 36,000 new wallets per day. By Q2 2025, 53 DePIN projects had joined the Peaq ecosystem, with several migrating from other Layer-1 blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. Network revenue grew 146.6% during the first half of Q1 2025 alone, establishing a measurable and expanding economic baseline.

The network also attracted serious institutional attention before launch. In March 2024, Peaq closed a $15 million funding round with participation from Animoca Brands, Borderless Capital, Generative Ventures, Cypher Capital, CMCC, Fundamental Labs, HV Capital, Hashkey Capital, GSR Investments, and MoonRock Capital. Two months later, in May 2024, Peaq ran the largest token sale on CoinList in over two years, raising $20 million from more than 14,500 participants, with total contributions exceeding $36 million including oversubscribed demand. This investor lineup reflects broad confidence from some of the most active funds in the blockchain space.

The native token of the Peaq network is PEAQ. Total genesis supply was set at 4.2 billion tokens, and the token serves three core functions within the network. First, PEAQ is used to pay transaction fees across all operations on the chain. Second, token holders can stake PEAQ to support network security, earn staking rewards, and delegate to validators. Third, PEAQ is the governance token, giving holders the ability to vote on the future direction of the protocol. The initial annual inflation rate was set at 3.5%, designed to decrease by 10% each year until it stabilizes at 1%, with future adjustments subject to governance. Of newly minted tokens, 40% go toward staking rewards for delegators and validators.

PEAQ tokens are available on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges for standard retail purchases. However, for large token amounts, locked tokens, or SAFT notes from early investors, centralized exchanges are not suitable. Acquire.Fi OTC and Secondaries Marketplace is built specifically for that purpose.

To buy Peaq tokens OTC on Acquire.Fi, you have two options. You can browse existing sell listings in the marketplace and engage directly with a seller at their listed terms. Or, if you have a specific valuation or token amount in mind, you can submit a new Buy listing at your preferred terms using the Buy form. This lets you set the parameters and wait for a matching counterparty rather than accepting whatever is currently listed.

If you hold PEAQ and want to exit your position, you can sell Peaq tokens OTC through the same platform. You can either engage with existing buy listings from interested buyers or submit a new Sell listing at your preferred valuation and amount using the Sell form. The marketplace gives you control over pricing rather than forcing you to absorb exchange slippage on a large position.

Once a listing is submitted, Acquire.Fi handles the deal process from there. The team conducts background checks on counterparties, sends NDAs, and then introduces the buyer and seller. From that point, both parties are responsible for their own due diligence and for settling payment directly. Acquire.Fi is not a broker-dealer, but the team actively assists throughout the process to help ensure the deal closes. For large-block PEAQ transactions outside the reach of exchange order books, it is the most direct path to finding a qualified counterparty.