The Rising Narrative: A Glimpse into the Present and Future of DePIN

Introduction

The internet, as a symbol of globalization, is actually a product of the peak period of the Cold War. In 1969, the U.S. military aimed to establish a network that could avoid centralized single points of failure and self-recover in response to potential nuclear strikes. Thus, the prototype of the internet, "ARPAnet" (, was born, adhering to the principle of decentralization and adopting a fully distributed architecture.

However, over the past 55 years, from Web1 to Web2, the internet has gradually formed a centralized architecture of "terminal link servers" in the wave of commercialization and globalization, which is contrary to its original intention. Web2 giants control the discretion of the online world and possess immense influence and power over value distribution.

In recent years, the wave of Web3 has risen, championing the banners of decentralization and de-platforming. However, merely applying decentralization is difficult to resolve fundamental contradictions, as issues such as efficiency bottlenecks and security risks still persist. The key to fundamentally addressing these issues lies in how to thoroughly transform the underlying technology stack of the Internet to disrupt the efficiency and security problems caused by the overly centralized Web2.

In this context, DePIN offers an intriguing new approach: by combining the financial attributes and incentive mechanisms of Web3, DePIN can build an efficient P2P physical resource network, creating a "decentralized physical network infrastructure," and endowing the network with programmability, achieving an elevation of "DePIN+" and constructing a new internet architecture.

At the same time, the explosion of AI in Web3 not only injects new vitality into it but also witnesses the trend of blockchain applications expanding from on-chain activities to the real world, such as RWA, AI, DePIN, etc. The rise of DePIN signifies that the boundaries between physical reality and the blockchain world are becoming blurred. Next, let us take a look at the present and future of DePIN.

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) Part.1 DePIN Overview: What & Why

What is DePIN?

DePIN### decentralized physical infrastructure network( is a model that combines physical infrastructure resources with blockchain technology, coordinating global resource collaboration through distributed ledgers, token incentives, and smart contracts.

In short, DePIN creates a "resource sharing + economic incentive" bilateral market by linking hardware with blockchain. This community-driven model is more flexible than traditional single-point resource management and has stronger scaling effects and robustness.

A complete DePIN network consists of project parties, off-chain physical devices, suppliers, and demanders, and the basic operational model is divided into five steps:

1. Off-chain hardware devices: Usually provided or requested by the project party, mainly divided into:

• Customized dedicated hardware: such as Helium hotspots, Hivemapper dashcams, etc.
• Professional-grade hardware: such as idle GPU devices
• Smart mobile devices: such as smartphones, watches, etc.

2. Proof: Data generated by physical devices must be uploaded to the blockchain as proof of work )PoPW(

3. Identity Verification: Verify the on-chain account address of the device owner

4. Reward Distribution: Distribute token rewards to the verified on-chain address.

5. Demand Matching: The DePIN market platform facilitates resource exchange and matching between supply and demand parties.

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)# Why is DePIN needed?

Traditional physical infrastructure networks face the following problems:

• Centralized control: Vulnerable to attacks, low transparency, users have no control.
• High entry barriers: restrict market competition and innovation
• Resource Waste: Low Resource Utilization Rate
• Lack of motivation: Users' participation enthusiasm is not high.

Core value of DePIN:

• Resource Sharing and Digitalization: Idle physical resources converted into tradable digital assets
• Decentralized Governance: Based on Open Protocols and Cryptoeconomic Models
• On-chain settlement: reduce costs
• Innovation: Open permissionless global system, fast experimentation speed

Current Status of DePIN Development

Track: Expanding from early storage and communication to areas such as computing power, data collection and sharing, wireless, sensors, and energy. AI is the keyword for this cycle.

Market size: There are 1561 projects launched, with a total market value of approximately 22 billion USD. Messari predicts that the market size could reach 3.5 trillion USD by 2028.

L1/L2: Mainly focused on public chains such as Solana, IoTex, Peaq, while Polygon and Arbitrum are gradually rising.

The current DePIN projects are mainly divided into two directions: focusing on the middle layer and expanding the demand side.

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) Part.2 DePIN Middleware

The DePIN middleware aims to help projects quickly launch applications by providing development frameworks, tools, and comprehensive solutions.

DePIN Infrastructure

• DePHY: Provides open-source hardware solutions, SDKs, and tools.
• W3bStream: The off-chain computing protocol of IoTeX

Liquidity Scheme

• PINGPONG: DePIN Liquidity and Service Aggregator
• Parasail: A re-staking protocol specifically serving DePIN

Part.3 DePIN Application Layer

The DePIN application layer is mainly divided into four major sectors: cloud networks, wireless networks, sensors, and energy.

Cloud Network

Storage: such as Filecoin, Arweave, etc.

Computing power: such as Render Network, io.net, PinGo, etc.

Wireless Network

Including 5G, WiFi, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, etc., such as Helium, Pollen Mobile, Wicrypt, etc.

Sensor

Environment: like WiHi Geography: Like HiveMapper

Energy

such as Starpower, Powerpod, Arkreen, etc.

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) Part.4 How to view the future of DePIN?

DePIN trend

• Combined with Web2 application scenarios
• Lower hardware threshold
• Financialization
• DePIN and AI mutually benefit each other

The bottlenecks of DePIN towards scaling

• The technical implementation is complex.
• Market acceptance is uncertain
• Profit model to be verified
• Regulatory policy intervention

Part.5 DePIN Potential Project Considerations

Hardware

• Self-made vs Third-party
• One-time vs Ongoing Costs
• High Density vs Low Density
• Scarcity vs Commonness

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)# Token Economics Design

• BME and SFA as the basic framework
• Empower tokens with diverse functionalities
• Design a reasonable incentive mechanism

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) summary

DePIN reshapes production relations through Web3 and token economics, releasing productivity, integrating global idle resources, and improving infrastructure efficiency and risk resistance. However, it still faces challenges such as technology, market, and regulation. DePIN relies on the flywheel effect and requires substantial accumulation to make a significant impact; it will not become a silent narrative.