What are Onchain Machines?

Onchain machines are smart devices that connect directly to a blockchain, transforming from passive tools into active economic agents. With over 20 million smart devices already embedded in daily life, the shift to onchain enables these machines to earn, transact, and participate autonomously in decentralized networks. This marks the foundation of the Machine Economy, where value flows directly to users and communities instead of centralized platforms.

Key Ideas

A machine becomes onchain when it has a decentralized identity (DID) and a wallet, allowing it to verify itself, earn tokens, interact with smart contracts, and operate autonomously.
Onchain machines unlock new capabilities: incentivization, co-ownership, transparency, composability, global accessibility, and decentralized hyperautomation.
Unlike traditional IoT devices, which operate in closed corporate ecosystems, onchain machines participate in open, peer-to-peer economies with verifiable actions and economic agency.
Real-world examples include devices earning for energy grid flexibility (Combinder), noise mapping (Silencio), weather data collection (SkyX), decentralized cybersecurity (DATS), and drive-to-earn navigation (MapMetrics).

Why It Matters?

Developers have chances to build dApps and DePINs that integrate onchain machines as autonomous actors. They can use peaq’s infrastructure to assign DIDs, enable machine wallets, and support microtransactions at scale—creating networks where machines earn, pay, and interact without intermediaries.

Entrepreneurs should explore new business models where machines are tokenized, crowdfunded, and governed by communities. They can launch services that monetize machine data, automate logistics, or offer decentralized infrastructure—all while ensuring transparency and user ownership.