What is InfraFi?

AI infrastructure demand is exploding. According to a 2025 report by tech analytics firm IDC, AI infrastructure spending is projected to surpass $200 billion by 2028. This growth isn’t just digital—it’s physical, requiring thousands of GPUs, network nodes, data centers, and energy systems to be built and financed.

But who’s funding this infrastructure? And how can it scale more efficiently without relying on dilutive fundraising via token raises or encumbered financing and due diligence in traditional finance?

This is where InfraFi powered by [USD.AI](http://USD.AI) comes in—a new capital layer purpose-built for the next era of decentralized infrastructure.

Why DePIN Faces a Capital Wall

The DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) movement is shifting how infrastructure is built and owned. Projects like Helium, Aethir, Render, and DAWN are proving that individuals—not just corporations—can contribute to global infrastructure and earn for doing so.

But building real-world networks takes real-world capital. Routers, antennas, GPUs, and solar panels cost money upfront, with returns that often come months or years later.

DePIN projects run into a familiar set of financing roadblocks:

• Dilutive fundraising: Relying on token emissions or VC capital means giving up future upside and weakening token economics.
• Inefficient capital use: Funds raised are spent quickly, often without reuse or recycling. Hardware sits on the books instead of being leveraged.
• Collateral limitations: Most traditional lenders won’t underwrite DePIN because hardware is hard to seize, verify, or value.
• Poor liquidity: Even tokenized infrastructure (like node NFTs) lacks real liquidity or standardized secondary markets.

The result: infrastructure growth is constrained—not by demand, but by a lack of financing tools built for physical assets.

InfraFi 101

InfraFi is a decentralized financing primitive that enables hardware-backed infrastructure to access onchain liquidity without selling tokens or relying on centralized lenders.

InfraFi works by turning tokenized real-world assets—like GPU clusters or telecom hardware—into collateral for loans, bringing:

• Capital-efficient scaling: Builders use existing or newly deployed assets to access liquidity without giving up equity or tokens.
• Stable, asset-backed yields: Investors earn returns backed by real-world productive assets, not just protocol emissions.
• More sustainable tokenomics: Projects can grow without inflating their token supply or overpaying in emissions.

USD.AI is the flagship implementation of InfraFi—a yield-bearing synthetic dollar backed by infrastructure collateral and built to fuel the growth of networks powering AI.

How USD.AI Powers InfraFi with Real-World Collateral

USD.AI is a synthetic dollar protocol built to power InfraFi. It enables real-world infrastructure—starting with GPUs and expanding to telecom and energy hardware—to become usable, enforceable collateral for onchain loans.

This is made possible through CALIBER (Collateralized Asset Ledger: Insurance, Bailment, Evaluation, Redemption), a tokenization and legal framework based on UCC Article 7 that turns physical assets into ERC-721 tokens representing digital property rights. Here’s how it works:

• Tokenization & Bailment: A Borrower enters a sale-leaseback transaction with a Tokenizing Agent (e.g., Permian Labs), transferring legal title of the asset in exchange for an ERC-721 Electronic Document of Title NFT. The Borrower continues using the equipment under a Bailment Agreement, ensuring business operations are uninterrupted.
• Loan Issuance: Using the NFT as collateral, the Borrower accesses stablecoin loans from USD.AI—typically to finance new equipment purchases, scale deployments, or cover operations.
• Yield Generation: Revenue from compute jobs, bandwidth delivery, or other infrastructure usage repays the loan. Interest collected funds yield payouts to staked USDai holders.
• In the Event of Default: If a Borrower misses payment, the NFT is auctioned on-chain. The new owner can legally reclaim the asset after a 14-day redemption window. Insurance mechanisms backstop capital provider risk.

CALIBER ensures the legal enforceability, operational continuity, and financial structuring needed to scale DePIN with onchain capital. It’s the foundation of how USD.AI turns real-world assets into programmable collateral.

Why InfraFi Matters Now

DePIN projects are building the physical backbone of crypto—but scaling infrastructure like GPUs, bandwidth nodes, and solar arrays requires capital that most DeFi models weren’t built for.

InfraFi changes that. It turns real-world machines into onchain collateral, unlocking stable, non-dilutive capital and generating real yield for USDai holders.

USD.AI is the first InfraFi implementation, already working with DePIN leaders like Aethir and Akash(GPU compute), Glow (solar), DAWN Internet (telecom), and more. By bridging DeFi and hardware, InfraFi is how we fund the physical internet—efficiently, sustainably, and onchain.

We’re launching May 2025, learn more about how our protocol works at https://docs.usd.ai/.