My suggestion is to get rid of the IOT device. It is too costly of an idea, and very difficult to implement.
I don't know much about code development, but is there a way to cap the total number of coins available? Right now it is infinite, I think. There should be a total coin cap.
Also, Reduce staking rewards by a large amount. Inflation is too high. Too many coins are circulating and they have too low of value. Maybe remove staking all-together for one full year to let the price catch up to the supply and demand. Set staking rewards to 0 for a year.
Continue marketing the coin in the meantime. I think it will pick up some value this way. Too bad there is no coins to burn, otherwise burning a lot of coins could help.
I like rain because of the random rewards system, it is like a rain cloud of coins gets dumped on your wallet. This feature was fun, innovative, and very beneficial to rain. I think inventing new fun and engaging systems like that will help the currency become popular again.
I don't think re-starting a new chain is a good idea. Rehabilitating the current chain and coin is a very good challenging project. I think lots can be learned from it. I hope you choose this path.
Best
I have no idea if any of this is feasible, because I'm not a developer, and I don't understand the limitations of the code/project. So, bare with me. However, it seems (to me anyway) that the original draw/benefits of rain were for it to be a great POS coin, which it can still be, and for it to provide environmental awareness. I think I agree with the above individual that the rain meter project is too costly for it to be implemented, and it should be scrapped. Though from what I understand from the white paper this is an open source initiative, yes? Providing the hardware is very expensive, but is it not possible to just provide the software and share the data through the network? Interested parties could build their own rain meters which would be more cost effective, and they could do it using rain that they have staked! Perhaps rain could partner with a store that could sell a kit of needed parts for people to build their own. A Raspberry Pi is affordable to most people, and not a super difficult DIY. In fact you could probably get some attention for the project by posting a how to on DIY sites like Instructables showing how to build one.
First off, I don't see anything wrong with rain just being a great POS coin. The random stakes are fun and interesting feature. It's why I bought it to start with. I remember hearing some rumors of masternodes. Can those be implemented as a future roadmap target?
Secondly, even though rain meters probably can't be completed that doesn't mean Rain still can't make positive contributions to the world. Perhaps the staking could be split, and a small percentage would go to a charity such as one that provides clean water to people.