New Trends in the DePIN Industry: The Rise of Integration with AI Technology

DePIN, once a highly regarded field, is seeking new development directions. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence technology, the market focus is gradually shifting towards the AI track. However, DePIN has not stagnated; instead, it is actively exploring new possibilities in conjunction with AI. Taking a well-known project as an example, we can gain insights into the transformations that the DePIN industry is undergoing.

The Essence of DePIN

DePIN is the abbreviation for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network. It encourages users to share personal resources to build an infrastructure network through a token incentive mechanism, covering multiple areas such as storage space, communication bandwidth, cloud computing, and energy. The core of DePIN lies in the efficient integration of resources, effectively allocating them to those in need.

Mainly divided into three categories:

1. Storage type: Provides cloud storage service similar to.
2. Computing Power: Decentralized GPU Rendering Platform
3. Network Category: Establishing a global WIFI network through incentive mechanisms

DePIN has similarities with Bitcoin, as both require initial investment in hardware equipment, followed by continuous mining. Due to its connection with the real world, DePIN is not a closed system, bringing positive externalities to the entire industry. High-speed blockchain platforms have become the preferred choice for DePIN protocols due to their characteristics, and the combination of the two generates a strong synergistic effect.

Current Status of the DePIN Market

According to data platforms, DePIN has nearly 4.56 million devices in approximately 196 countries and regions worldwide, with a market value of $7.1 billion. The devices are mainly distributed in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia, with a particularly high concentration in Southeast Asia, including countries such as India, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan. The cryptocurrency industry atmosphere in South Korea is especially vibrant.

DePIN brings new economic opportunities to the Southeast Asian region. These countries are leveraging their manufacturing advantages and human resources to fully engage in this emerging field.

Innovation of Emerging DePIN Projects

A certain emerging DePIN project belongs to the network sub-sector and can be seen as a combination of Web3 and WIFI, dedicated to establishing decentralized wireless networks and telecommunications services. The project offers various products, including WIFI hardware and eSIM cards. Users can mine by purchasing dedicated hardware or obtain free data by completing tasks.

In the technical architecture of the project, the telecommunications data layer is a core concept, functioning through four main ecological modules:

1. Network Construction: Focus on physical and digital infrastructure to ensure global WIFI coverage.
2. Growth Strategy: Encourage users to participate in network construction through incentive mechanisms.
3. Innovation Incubation: Support and nurture new projects, promote technological and service innovation.
4. Community Management: Focus on community building and governance to enhance user participation.

The Integration of AI and DePIN

The project is exploring deep integration with AI technology, leveraging its communication data advantages to provide high-quality data for AI projects. In AI development, data is a key bottleneck, especially since communication data is often monopolized by traditional operators. This project offers operator services through Web3 while ensuring privacy protection, using the generated data as a data source for AI companies.

The project utilizes Decentralized Identity (DID), Verifiable Credentials (VC), and Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZK) technologies to protect user privacy. By collaborating with multiple DePIN ecosystem partners, it is building a diverse ecosystem of AI training datasets.

In addition to basic communication data, the project also integrates and provides multidimensional data resources, including real-time weather monitoring, global CDN services, renewable energy usage, decentralized authentication, innovative payment, and lending behavior data. This comprehensive data integration offers unprecedented depth and breadth for AI model training.

User Participation Opportunities

The project adopts a "free + airdrop" strategy for rapid development. Unlike the traditional charging model of operators, users can obtain free traffic by completing tasks. At the same time, sharing WIFI can also earn points, providing opportunities to participate in future airdrops, greatly lowering the participation threshold.

This direct incentive model has attracted a large number of users, maximizing the subsidy strategies of the Web2 industry. For ordinary users, this provides an opportunity to participate in Web3 projects with low risk.