The trend of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) is one to watch in 2024. DePINs are gaining traction, and their innovative approach to leveraging decentralized networks of physical devices is opening up a whole new world of applications. To understand the benefit of DePINs it is worth exploring some of their strongest use cases.
What are DePINs?
DePINs are networks designed to facilitate the coordination of physical devices, utilizing their collective computational power to achieve common goals. This form of crowdsourcing is especially powerful and can be applied across various industries. Blockchain protocols, with their ability to support large peer-to-peer networks, are particularly well-suited as the foundational layer for DePINs. Research firm Messari estimates that the DePIN market could be worth a staggering $3.5 trillion by 2028.
The DePIN area of blockchain is moving fast, with new projects springing to life given the vast areas of application. Just last month Peaq, a DePIN focused layer 1 blockchain secured $15 million in funding and they are positioning themselves as an emerging hub for projects and other networks demonstrating the value of DePIN with real world use cases.
This article will focus on just three of the many use cases for DePINs that are some of the most promising applications of this advanced technology. Supply Chain management, Decentralised computing and environmental monitoring.
First things first, the complicated landscape of supply chains.
Supply chain management
DePINs leverage blockchain, smart contracts, and IoT to enhance transparency, efficiency, and security when it comes to supply chain management. One example of this is Morpheus.Network that provides a decentralized platform that optimizes supply chains, ensuring greater efficiency for companies. They enable businesses to optimize their supply chains.
“At Morpheus Network we understand the value of efficiency. Our tools are designed to address the complexities of cross border operations. We are focused on removing barriers and reducing unnecessary costs for companies and governmental organizations using global supply chains,”notes Dan Weinberger, CEO and Co-Founder of Morpheus Network.
The platform streamlines often cumbersome processes, using blockchain technology to securely manage compliance documentation and facilitate automated reporting. Morpheus Network’s integration with DePIN’s blockchain-based payment system ensures efficient, transparent cross-border transactions, with built-in currency conversion features and alternative payment options further enhancing flexibility and efficiency in international trade. Using DePINs they can help businesses align with consumer demands.
Decentralized Computing
DePIN projects are becoming part of the wider conversation concerning the demand for computation. From data storage to computational power, there is an ongoing battle of the technology giants when it comes to allocating resources in these areas.
Just last month Amazon announced a $11bn data center investment in the US state of Indiana alone. Although these massive infrastructure projects make technology companies important economic contributors/partners, they also showcase how centralized entities have a large portion of control over the market.
This can disrupt the cloud computing landscape by offering a secure alternative to centralized cloud providers. Imagine a network of decentralized data centers powered by DePIN. Users can rent out their unused storage space or computing power, earning rewards and contributing to a distributed and scalable cloud infrastructure.
Platforms like Filecoin, Arweave, and Sia offer secure, distributed storage solutions, ensuring data safety through redundancy across numerous independent providers. This decentralized approach creates a digital vault of thousands of interconnected subvaults powered by blockchain technology.
On the computational front, projects like Akash, Tashi and Metis are transforming traditional, often costly, centralized computing models. Using DePINs individuals can pool their computational resources, creating an efficient, decentralized cloud alternative to giants like AWS.
Amar Bedi, CEO of Tashi Protocol shares “the combination of DePIN and improving hardware specs is enabling gaming studios to switch their backend infrastructure from cloud providers to the players’ directly. This switch allows game studios to incentivise the players instead of spending that same money on large players like AWS. These new economic models are still in their early days and we expect larger Web2 gaming studios to adopt this technology for the millions of dollars they can add to their bottom line.”
This shift democratizes access to computing power and data storage, fostering more inclusive computer infrastructure.
Environmental Monitoring
Last but not least is the application of DePIN technology to provide more transparency and incentives when it comes to monitoring the environment. DePIN can be used to create a network of decentralized environmental sensors, collecting data on air quality, water pollution, and other environmental parameters. Tokenized ownership can provide new incentives for data collection and sharing, promoting more collaborative efforts towards sustainability.
One example of this that is often cited is the solar energy trading platform developed by Power Ledger. This system allows homeowners with rooftop solar panels to sell their excess energy to neighbors, creating a local energy market that promotes sustainability and efficiency. By enabling peer-to-peer trading of excess energy, Power Ledger fosters a more efficient and sustainable energy ecosystem.
John Bulich, Co-Founder and Director of Powerledger, a blockchain enabled software for trading renewable energy, believes that “…by making more transparent the operation of a certain infrastructure, it could enable new markets, that based on the data available, would likely provide more efficient products and services, that make the DePIN in question function more efficiently.”
Despite all of the promises that bridges could bring interoperability and therefore facilitate more room adoption, it may be DePIN that provides the missing link between the values of decentralized protocols and the needs of infrastructure providers and local governments. By 2030 it is estimated that there will be 29 billion IoT devices worldwide.
Democratizing access to the data and unlocking new economic opportunities through the management of this infrastructure may be key for anybody researching the application of decentralized networks to societal needs in the future.
