Beyond the trillion-dollar hype, is decentralized infrastructure ready to power the world?

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Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) has become one of the crypto industry’s darlings, among the fastest-growing sectors in web3. According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Technology Convergence Report, DePIN is set to snowball from its current ~$30 billion valuation to a seismic $3.5 trillion by 2028.

That’s an increase of approximately 11,576% (just ask ChatGPT).

On paper, DePIN is certainly a heavyweight. But is it ready to go round-to-round and actually power the world?

Understanding the DePIN landscape today

The magic of DePIN lies in making physical infrastructure (think bandwidth, cloud storage, smart cars, and microgrids) community-owned and open for anyone to contribute. Regular people can plug in their idle devices, whether it’s a sensor, a car, or a phone, and get rewarded for their part in keeping the network alive.

The DePIN world is buzzing with blockchain-based, community-owned networks that support real-world infrastructure in all kinds of ways, and the use cases keep growing.

The WEF estimates more than 1,500 active DePIN projects out there, opening physical infrastructure to the masses and letting individuals and communities join ecosystems that were once reserved for big corporations and centralized players.

By harnessing blockchain, DePIN boosts transparency, security, and efficiency in how resources get used, and contributors receive tokenized rewards for getting involved.

Why the hype is real

One of the primary drivers for DePIN’s rise is its convergence with AI, especially the emergence of decentralized physical AI (DePAI), enabling machine learning models to harness data and compute from a diverse, distributed, and global network.

Unlike some other areas of web3, like memecoins or perpetuals, DePIN is not just about financial speculation; it’s about blockchain mass adoption and making users active participants in digital economies.

And in a world that’s powered by data, DePIN really shines; not just knowing what the data is, but where it comes from, who validated it, and whether it’s been faked or phished.

As the need for AI training data explodes, the value of high-quality, trustless proof-of-origin data rises in step, making DePIN essential not just for crypto, but for global digital infrastructure as well.

From home internet to IoT

XYO is a company that verifies and moves real-world information on-chain for DePIN, AI, and RWA apps. Launched in 2018, XYO has over 10 million nodes and ranks as the fourth-highest-earning DePIN project to date. Cofounder Marcus Levin explains:

“We act as a trustless oracle, verifying and validating the real-world data that powers AI, web3, and enterprise use cases. 80% of the people in our network are non-crypto users. They can be truckers and Uber drivers, joggers, and people who move a lot. They’re able to earn more. People want to earn money on this side and get crypto for free.”

Althea Network brings blockchain-enabled internet to thousands of homes with dynamic, pay-as-you-go pricing. The team reports four petabytes of traffic routed across 12 states and multiple countries, directly addressing the issue that $100 billion in U.S. government spending has made less than a 1% dent in connectivity. As cofounder and CEO Debora Simpier put it:

“About one in four people in the U.S. don’t have adequate internet.”

Another example of a DePIN network is Sentinel, which offers a decentralized VPN infrastructure, boasting 359,000 users and 7,500 volunteer-operated nodes worldwide. Sentinel also builds custom SDKs to enable VPN features for popular applications, even in highly censored regimes like Turkmenistan.

The DePIN sector isn’t just about location data or supply chain oracles, either. Its reach is far broader, stretching deeper into the physical fabric of the connected world.

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Helium, for example, started in 2019 as a grassroots mesh network for IoT sensors, and has exploded into a community-powered wireless movement, with tens of thousands of hotspots deployed globally.

Instead of relying on telcos and corporate towers, Helium lets everyday people become the network, earning tokens by providing wireless coverage for smart sensors, scooters, and asset trackers, and turning idle hardware into crypto-powered utility.

And when it comes to data storage, Filecoin’s DePIN network enables decentralized storage, which not only circumvents centralized actors but translates to better privacy, lower costs, and a radically reduced risk of censorship or downtime.

These projects span home internet, censorship-resistant communications, mobility, and storage infrastructure, highlighting the diversity and scalability of the DePIN model.

Is DePIN ready for prime time?

Despite the hype and growing adoption, scaling decentralized physical infrastructure remains DePIN’s biggest hurdle. One of the hardest challenges of integrating real-world hardware is economies of scale.

Traditional blockchains struggle to process vast numbers of transactions and data uploads in real time, especially as DePIN networks connect thousands, or even millions, of physical devices across the globe.

Unlike purely financial networks, every new sensor, router, or contributor adds not just another wallet, but a new stream of bandwidth, compute, or storage that must be securely tracked and rewarded.

As network scale grows, congestion and latency can spike, with longer transaction confirmation times, unpredictable fees, and the risk of outages in high-throughput environments.

This challenge is amplified as DePIN seeks to power real-world infrastructure that demands seamless response, reliability, and ultra-low delays. Current infrastructure, while promising, often falls short of these demands.

Mass participation also brings regulatory scrutiny around consumer protections, KYC/AML, and data privacy. DePIN’s physical touchpoints, such as routers, vehicles, and storage, are inherently more exposed to security breaches than purely digital systems, necessitating strong defenses against hacking, Sybil attacks, or hardware vulnerabilities.

And despite 1,500+ live projects and valuations in the tens of billions, only a handful have proven themselves over years of operation.

The path to an open digital economy

DePIN’s projected 70-fold market expansion in three years seems like a tall order. But powered by AI growth and global demand for resilient, community-owned infrastructure, the tailwinds are blowing in DePIN’s favor.

As the WEF points out, DePIN’s convergence with decentralized AI could fundamentally change the global computing landscape and lead to a more open, secure, and accessible digital economy.

And as the number and diversity of DePIN projects continue to rise, so will those that move beyond hype and deliver real infrastructure and inclusion at a truly global scale. So perhaps one day soon, everyone on the planet, from Tennessee to Timbuktu, will be able to plug in, contribute, and own a slice of the new digital infrastructure.