Pioneering the DePIN Revolution with Cosmos SDK
The Potential of DePIN
In recent months, Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (“DePIN”), has rapidly gained attention due to its large total addressable market and immense growth potential. DePIN encompasses infrastructure-related projects that leverage blockchains to incentivize individuals to contribute their capital or unused resources towards building more transparent and verifiable networks. It challenges the traditional, centralized control by large corporations over critical resources like wireless networks and power grids.
According to CoinGecko, the DePIN market cap has surged past $32 billion, surpassing the market cap of DEX tokens, and signaling a massive shift towards decentralized infrastructure solutions. Many are viewing DePIN as a revolution in the global distribution of physical and digital resources, and a groundbreaking method for scaling large-scale infrastructure.
Enter the Cosmos SDK, the leading modular toolkit for building blockchain applications, which stands to be a game-changer for DePIN projects. In this blog we explore how the Cosmos SDK supports and enhances the objectives of DePIN, establishing itself as a crucial toolkit in democratizing and decentralizing physical infrastructure.
What Does Cosmos SDK Enable for DePIN?
Dedicated and Sovereign Blockchains
Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach of monolithic blockchains like Ethereum, the Cosmos SDK enables the creation of dedicated and sovereign appchains. Developers can tailor these appchains specifically to their application’s needs while avoiding congestion and shared fate issues. DePIN projects, which involve critical infrastructure such as energy grids, telecommunications, or IoT devices, can benefit significantly from this sovereignty and customization. Each chain can be optimized for its specific use case and provide reliable performance without the interference of unrelated network activities.
High Responsiveness with Blazing Fast Speeds
The sub-second block times enabled by Cosmos SDK ensure that any action is reflected almost instantaneously to all network participants. Whether it’s tracking the performance of a compute provider or the status of a hardware component, network participants can receive updates without any delay. This high responsiveness is essential for DePIN projects, where real-time data and swift updates are critical for timely decision-making and maintaining operational efficiency.
Scalability Without Compromises
DePIN projects may start locally but have the potential to expand regionally or even globally. DePIN applications involve complex operations and manage a significant amount of data. The Cosmos SDK allows developers to deploy additional chains or rollups and take advantage of parallelism to meet the increasing demands of projects. This, coupled with innovative cross-chain validation, ensures DePIN projects can scale securely without compromising on performance, potentially achieving up to 1 million transactions per second.
Zero to Low Transaction Fees
The transaction-intensive nature of DePIN necessitates a framework that supports low transaction fees even as transaction volumes soar, to preserve the project’s economic viability. Cosmos SDK meets this requirement by enabling transactions at minimal costs, potentially as low as $0.001 and even allowing for the elimination of gas fees in permissioned systems that do not require spam resistance. This affordability encourages broader community involvement and investment in the maintenance and expansion of physical infrastructure.
Innovation with Boundless Flexibility
Cosmos SDK provides developers with the freedom to implement a wide range of onchain logic without being constrained by the limitations imposed by virtual machines like EVM. The ABCI++ interface offers direct access to block production, allowing for the development of bespoke solutions, from perpetual storage to automated actions on state changes in hardware. This is essential for managing the complex requirements of physical infrastructure, allowing for innovative solutions that can evolve with the infrastructure’s needs.
Different Security Models for Critical Infrastructure
DePIN applications that deal with critical infrastructure components need a chain that incorporates strong security measures to protect sensitive data and ensure the integrity and trustworthiness of the network. The security needs of DePIN projects can vary greatly depending on the type of physical infrastructure and the risks involved. Cosmos SDK offers developers the flexibility to choose the most appropriate security model for their project, whether it’s building Proof of Authority or Proof of Stake, or leveraging the available shared security models. This allows DePIN projects to align the security mechanisms with their specific needs and trust the assumptions of their application.
Predictable Fees with Stablecoins
Stable transaction fees are particularly important for DePIN projects, which may involve significant capital investment and long-term planning. The Cosmos SDK provides the flexibility to choose which tokens are used for transaction fees, allowing projects to avoid volatile assets and instead opt for stablecoins or other preferred currencies. The ability to use stablecoins or other non-volatile assets for fees helps in budgeting, financial management, and reducing financial risk.
Greater Control with Permissioned Blockchains
For projects requiring privacy and selective accessibility, the Cosmos SDK enables the creation of private permissioned systems. These blockchains restrict access to an allow-list of approved node operators and users, ensuring that the network serves only the platform participants without external interference. This capability is particularly valuable for enterprise applications and other use cases where confidentiality and control over participation are paramount. DePIN projects, especially those in sensitive or regulated industries like energy or telecommunications, require this type of controlled access to ensure security and compliance.
Connect Securely to Partner Platforms
The success of DePIN applications depends on their ability to seamlessly connect and exchange data securely with other networks. This interoperability facilitates efficient communication and data exchange across different platforms and networks, expanding the potential and functionality of DePIN applications beyond a single ecosystem. With IBC, DePIN projects can efficiently manage and swiftly retrieve data stored on multiple blockchains. The ability to monitor the success rate and speed of transactions across different platforms in a secure, zero-fee, and trust-minimized manner is essential for maintaining the integrity and efficiency of decentralized physical infrastructures.
Language Agnostic and EVM Compatible
The global and diverse nature of DePIN projects necessitates a development environment that is accessible to a wide range of programmers. Cosmos SDK is designed to be inclusive of developers with different programming backgrounds. While the core technology is written in Golang, the SDK supports various virtual machines, including EVM. Starting in the second half of 2024, SDK modules can be written in any WebAssembly or WASM-compatible language, like Rust. The Cosmos SDK’s support for various programming languages and VMs allows for greater innovation and collaboration among developers worldwide, accelerating the development and adoption of DePIN solutions.
Notable Projects
Akash is the world’s first decentralized and open-source cloud computing platform. Built as a Layer-1 blockchain using the Cosmos SDK, Akash allows users to deploy their own cloud infrastructure or monetize their idle cloud resources. Dubbed the “Airbnb for server hosting,” Akash has created a marketplace where users can lease computing resources from others who have surplus capacity. This innovative model leverages the underutilized resources found in the estimated 8.4 million data centers around the globe.
Soarchain is a modular Layer-1 built using Cosmos SDK to enhance the development and deployment of connected mobility and edge applications. Soarchain leverages the modular architecture of the Cosmos SDK to develop custom modules for specific use cases, such as the Proof-of-Availability and Data Provision Request modules. Furthermore, Cosmos SDK allows them to adjust the cost of computation according to their specific needs, which is crucial for managing the computational resources of their network efficiently.
Conclusion
For DePIN projects that prioritize security, efficiency, and transparency, the Cosmos SDK offers a compelling toolkit. Its ability to foster resilient, scalable, and cost-effective networks while ensuring compliance makes it an ideal choice for development teams looking to innovate in the decentralized infrastructure space. By adopting the Cosmos SDK, projects can leverage a battle-tested framework to not only meet the current demands of DePIN but also pave the way for future innovations and scalability.
About Cosmos SDK
Cosmos SDK is the world’s leading modular toolkit for building blockchain applications. With the Cosmos SDK, developers can quickly and easily build and deploy application-specific blockchains and rollups using a framework that is stable, secure and highly performant.
Learn more at https://cosmos.network/appchains.
