Updated on May 24, 2023 Global

<aside> 💡 IoTeX provides critical infrastructure, developer tools, and a full GTM package for companies building at the intersection of the real world and Web3. IoTeX is dedicated to assisting established Web2 companies looking to break into this space as well as Web3 startups that are just launching their networks.

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DePIN, Crypto’s Next Big Vertical

<aside> 💡 DePIN stands for decentralized physical infrastructure networks and is an emerging, highly promising vertical of crypto. The basic premise of DePIN is that physical networks (of sensors, wireless radios, batteries, etc.) can be built from the ground up by a community of contributors in exchange for token incentives that provide financial upside and governance rights in said network.

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DePIN is the next evolution of the Sharing Economy

• Uber and Airbnb created enormous value by decentralizing the labor and cost structure of their respective services. They did this by engaging a large community of car owners and home owners to help build their business for them.
• But because Uber and Airbnb are centralized companies and not decentralized protocols, these contributors have no long-term financial stake in the platform’s success and no say over how it is governed.
• The DePIN model is an improvement on this approach because it removes centralized middlemen and replaces them with protocols that have a lower-take rate than incumbents and reward contributors with financial upside and governance rights in the networks they help build.

The DePIN model is being applied across many real-world verticals

Wireless connectivity

• Helium built a global IoT network of 500k+ nodes and is now building the world’s first cryptocarrier, leveraging T-Mobile’s national network as its backbone while incentivizing community-built CBRS-based cellular coverage as well.

  

• XNET is also building a decentralized, CBRS-based cellular network but with a focus on hyperlocal “clusters” that provide dense, contiguous coverage in a specific region.

Mobility and mapping

• DIMO helps car owners view and monetize their vehicle’s data via a simple mobile app and an open developer platform.