Author: Chen Mo Source: X, @cmdefi
DePIN ushered in a small explosion in 2024 when other traditional tracks were sluggish. At the same time, it took the express train of AI to quickly enter the mainstream vision of the market. This article will interpret it from the following perspectives:
What changes will DePIN bring
How should Xiaobai understand DePIN
What does IoTeX provide for DePIN
DePIN The pros and cons of modularization
1/4 · What changes will DePIN bring?
Conceptually, DePIN uses the decentralization and digital assets of blockchain to enable any individual around the world to participate in the construction of physical infrastructure such as wireless networks and energy networks. Everyone is a "spark" instead of being controlled and managed by a centralized large company, and these "sparks" can continue to grow (get incentives) during this construction process.
This model inherits the characteristics of existing blockchain technology and will change the status quo of traditional centralized companies monopolizing infrastructure construction and management:
Dispersed ownership: Through token incentives, the ownership of the DePIN network is dispersed among many participants, avoiding the monopoly of centralized entities, while enhancing the resilience and security of the network and reducing the risk of centralized corruption.
Distributed infrastructure costs: Utilize the resources of network participants to share the construction and maintenance costs, greatly reducing costs.
Open competition and innovation: Break down market barriers, promote competition and innovation, and provide better services.
2/4 · How should a novice understand DePIN?
Give an example that is closer to life. For example, in the community where you live, every family has its own Wi-Fi network. If everyone wants to share the same Wi-Fi network, it is not easy to achieve even if the password is public, because it cannot meet the bandwidth and signal coverage. But if we use DePIN to solve this problem:
Establish a shared network: Everyone can provide part of their Wi-Fi bandwidth to form a large shared network.
Get rewards: If you provide Wi-Fi services, you will get some tokens as rewards.
Better experience: The shared network has a wider coverage, and the sharing mode means that resources are further integrated, the total cost is lower, the signal is stronger, and everyone benefits.
In this way, everyone contributes a little resource, builds a new shared network, and everyone is rewarded.
3/4 · Infrastructure construction
What does IoTeX provide? The core of DePIN is to connect and communicate the data of physical hardware with the blockchain world. IoTeX provides this infrastructure service, which combines the EVM-compatible bottom layer, the off-chain computing middle layer, and physical hardware to connect smart devices and real-world data to the blockchain.
From a conceptual perspective, it is very easy to understand. If we compare the previous pure chain ecosystem to a completely virtual world, then DePIN is to build this virtual world in a fair and positive feedback way. Projects such as IoTeX provide the infrastructure for this construction method. Because the data required for this construction method comes from smart devices, machines or sensors, it is necessary to design an architecture that meets the characteristics of professional technology. This architecture is necessarily different from the pure chain architecture we have been exposed to before, and it is still fundamentally different from the current "one-click chain issuance" such as indiscriminate coin issuance.
For example, the W3bstream project developed by IoTeX provides a computing environment that can seamlessly connect the data generated by smart devices with smart contracts on the blockchain, helping developers process and analyze data obtained from devices, and use these data to trigger various operations on the blockchain, completing the linkage between physical hardware and on-chain behavior.
3/4 · Modularity in the DePIN field
IoTeX 2.0 mainly proposes a modular structure. The concept of modularity has been basically verified in this round of bull market. For the pure on-chain ecology, the blockchain architecture is split into DA layer, settlement layer, execution layer, etc., which provides super flexibility and combination for the ecological construction of each chain. IoTeX 2.0 proposes a modular architecture that is more suitable for the development of DePIN and AI projects based on the characteristics of the DePIN field:
Hardware Abstraction Module
Connection Module
Sorting Module
Data Availability Module
Long-term Storage Module
Off-chain Computing Module
Blockchain Module
Identity Module
Governance Module
This modular design is more complex than traditional blockchains because it involves multiple fields and even spans two different "worlds", so it is necessary to develop unified standards in multiple dimensions.
For example, the hardware abstraction module provides a standardized way for various IoT devices to abstract them into a carrier that can be accepted by the blockchain network, thereby realizing decentralized data collection and operation. This is very important for DePIN because it allows devices to directly participate in the network without a complex integration process.
Another example is the identity module, which needs to manage the on-chain and off-chain identities of the entities involved (such as smart devices, servers, validators, etc.). Ensure that the identity and behavior of each entity can be verified and tracked, and support secure and compliant operations.
4/4 · Opportunities and Challenges
From the current technological trend, modularization is a choice that conforms to the times. Applying modularization to DePIN is a very worthwhile attempt. In the long run, it provides more possibilities and creativity for the development of DePIN applications and even the combination with AI, and imagination can be maximized.
But we know that this is similar to the modular concept of Celestia. The technical concept upgrade of infrastructure may not immediately feedback to the direct outbreak of the application side, just like many chains may choose to use the DA service provided by Celestia, but you will not directly feel any changes from the user side, so the upgrade of the user-side perception may require the next epoch-making story to provide.
In general, in this year's Crypto market, DePIN is the only track that can be combined with the concept of AI. This is also the reason why many highly financed and highly valued DePIN projects have appeared this year. In the short term, it is foreseeable that various popular concepts and solutions will be combined and BUFFed. Due to the support of the AI concept, the hype soil in this cycle is better than in previous cycles. In the long run, the significance of DePIN lies in reconstructing the global infrastructure through decentralization and community power, reducing costs and improving efficiency while breaking the monopoly and control of centralized power. This vision is more ambitious than decentralized finance, but the resistance and technical complexity faced by the application landing are also far higher than other tracks.
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