Is DePIN the Use Case That Crypto’s Been Missing?
A closer look at decentralised physical infrastructure networks, including Helium: the People’s Network
Having recently dived deep into Solana and its flourishing ecosystem, I came across a promising sector that’s beyond the scope of typical crypto narratives. Hidden behind the hype of GameFi, stablecoin payments and Bitcoin ETFs, lies the DePIN sector, codename for Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks.
Yes, that is quite a mouthful. Let’s break it down into bitesize pieces. And to add some context, we’ll take a closer look at Helium, one of the leading projects in this emerging sector.
Categorising DePIN
Crypto research platform Messari has been tracking DePIN for a while now. Their recent Enterprise report identifies a handful of specific verticals within this niche. To begin with, they split the field into 2 distinct categories: physical and digital resources.
- Physical encompasses network categories such as wireless, geospatial, mobility and energy. And within those categories lie even more subcategories.
- Digital caters to categories such as storage, compute and bandwidth. It’s in this category that a few of the better known projects reside…
