The DePIN Craze in the Web3 World: Innovation or Eyewash?

In recent years, new economic incentive models have continuously emerged in the Web3 field, from the early Filecoin mining machine craze, to the later GameFi concept, and now the popular DePIN( decentralized physical infrastructure network). These projects often use the slogan "mine while you use," combining the concept of mining with everyday life scenarios, such as charging, making calls, driving, etc., where users can earn token rewards.

At first glance, DePIN seems to be closer to real life than virtual games, with greater application prospects. However, upon closer inspection of the actual operations and economic models of these projects, many issues become apparent. The prices of most DePIN devices are far higher than their actual costs, making it difficult for investors to recoup their expenses. Meanwhile, the prices of related tokens are generally sluggish, leaving little room for rebound. This raises the question: is DePIN just another form of hardware eyewash?

Several Typical DePIN Project Cases

Helium: From Hard to Find to No One Asking

Helium was once a star project in the DePIN field, building a decentralized LoRaWAN network through Hotspot devices. The project also collaborated with well-known telecom companies to launch mobile communication services. However, the price of its devices skyrocketed from dozens of dollars to 2500 dollars, claiming a three-day payback period. The result was that a large number of investors lost all their money, the token price plummeted, and the nodes in the China region were completely wiped out.

Hivemapper: High-priced dashcams are hard to recoup costs

Hivemapper has launched a $549 dashcam, which rewards users with tokens for uploading geographic data. However, its token HONEY has been long underperforming, with a lengthy payback period. Additionally, the quality and coverage of its map data are questionable, making it difficult to compete with mainstream mapping services.

Jambo: The Web3 Mobile Myth in the African Market

Jambo launched a Web3 phone priced at $99 in the African market, activating a large number of wallet addresses. However, it seems to rely more on the surge of a certain well-known token rather than the value of the project itself. In the long term, it remains questionable whether its ecosystem can support user demand.

Ordz Game: The Web3 version of the retro handheld console

Ordz Game launched the BitBoy handheld priced at 0.01 BTC, incorporating the "Play to Earn" concept. However, the gaming experience remains at a retro ROM level, lacking innovation. Its tokens also lack liquidity and real value, making it difficult to achieve long-term user retention.

TON Mobile: Expensive "Senior Phone"

The TON phone is priced at nearly $500, but its hardware configuration is mediocre and the user experience is poor. Although there are expectations for airdrops, its actual value remains in question, and the ecosystem development is still in the conceptual stage.

Starpower: eyewash smart socket

Starpower launched a smart socket for 100 dollars, claiming to be a smart power DePIN project under the Solana ecosystem. However, similar products on other platforms are priced at only one-tenth of this. The project's technology is opaque, the ecosystem incentive model is unclear, and there are high risks involved.

The Essence and Future of DePIN

DePIN essentially attempts to extend the economic incentive model of Web3 into the real physical world. Theoretically, it can achieve infrastructure decentralization, build large-scale user networks, and implement fair incentives and transparent governance through token design.

However, most DePIN projects at the current stage rely on high-priced hardware sales to harvest users. The so-called "ecological empowerment" often depends on concept packaging and airdrop expectations to attract new users. Truly successful DePIN projects require strong supply and demand model design, continuously transparent incentive mechanisms, and in-depth understanding of the hardware and infrastructure fields.

In the future, we look forward to seeing some DePIN projects that do not rely on hardware sales and concept hype, but can sustain themselves through real usage and revenue. Only in this way can DePIN free itself from the suspicion of being a Ponzi scheme and truly bring value to the Web3 ecosystem.