每个 DePIN 都有一个故事

Helium 联合创始人 Sean Carey 表示，去中心化物理基础设施（DePIN）可以解决现实世界的问题，同时奖励用户。这是他期望未来看到的。

Every DePIN Has a Story

每个 DePIN 都有一个故事

By Sean Carey - Apr 25, 2023

作者：肖恩·凯里 - 2023 年 4 月 25 日

This is what to expect from decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) in the future.

这就是未来去中心化物理基础设施（DePIN）的期望。

In 1987, I sat outside the Medco Center in Springfield, Kentucky, with my grandfather, Bob Burns, a blind ex-industrial laundry worker from Boston. At 80, Bob spent many of his final days at Medco Center, seated in a folding chair and following the sun like a human sundial. One day, he showed me a remarkable watch that, with the press of a button, would speak the current time – a fascinating device for a seven-year-old. This moment marked the beginning of my curiosity in how technology could change everyday life, and the start of my journey in what is now called decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN).

1987 年，我和祖父鲍勃·伯恩斯 (Bob Burns) 一起坐在肯塔基州斯普林菲尔德的医疗中心外，他是一位来自波士顿的盲人前工业洗衣工人。 80 岁高龄的鲍勃在 Medco 中心度过了最后的大部分日子，他坐在折叠椅上，像人类日晷一样追随太阳。有一天，他向我展示了一款非凡的手表，只需按一下按钮，它就会说出当前时间——对于一个七岁的孩子来说，这是一个令人着迷的装置。这一刻标志着我对技术如何改变日常生活的好奇心的开始，以及我现在所谓的去中心化物理基础设施（DePIN）之旅的开始。

This op-ed is part of CoinDesk's new DePIN Vertical, covering the emerging industry of decentralized physical infrastructure.

这篇专栏文章是 CoinDesk 新的 DePIN Vertical 的一部分，涵盖了去中心化物理基础设施的新兴行业。

The charm of a DePIN project lies in its origin story. For many of us, DePIN is about scratching that metaphorical itch that comes from the quirks and gaps in business and society. During my tenure at Helium, one of the significant challenges we faced was incentivizing hosts to plug in our hotspots. While it was easy to get friends and family on board, achieving widespread adoption in 2013 seemed nearly impossible. Six years later, Amir Haleem, Marc Nidjam, Andrew Thompson, and the team cracked the code by creating the Helium Blockchain. This moment marked the genesis of DePIN for me and many others. With the network rapidly growing beyond and sustaining nearly 400,000 devices, the seemingly impossible became possible.

DePIN项目的魅力在于它的起源故事。对于我们许多人来说，DePIN 是为了解决来自商业和社会的怪癖和差距的隐喻性痒痒。在我在 Helium 任职期间，我们面临的重大挑战之一是激励主机接入我们的热点。虽然让朋友和家人参与进来很容易，但在 2013 年实现广泛采用似乎几乎是不可能的。六年后，Amir Haleem、Marc Nidjam、Andrew Thompson 和团队通过创建 Helium 区块链破解了代码。这一刻标志着我和其他许多人 DePIN 的诞生。随着网络迅速增长并支持近 400,000 台设备，看似不可能的事情变成了可能。

Helium is often cited as the purest example of the power of decentralized physical infrastructure. Hardly a day goes by without hearing this sentiment. But Helium did more than create a blockchain and nifty hotspots; it pioneered a new way of thinking.

氦气经常被认为是去中心化物理基础设施力量的最纯粹的例子。几乎每天都会听到这种情绪。但 Helium 所做的不仅仅是创建区块链和漂亮的热点；它开创了一种新的思维方式。

DePIN Brings Simplicity

DePIN 带来简单

Let’s face it, Web3 can be complex and challenging to grasp. One of the strengths of a DePIN is its tangible nature, which makes it easier for participants to identify and understand. Not only can the average consumer comprehend what a DePIN is, but in many cases, it also enhances the user experience for them. Consumers are therefore likely to participate at more than one level within an ecosystem.

让我们面对现实吧，Web3 可能很复杂并且难以掌握。 DePIN 的优势之一是其有形的性质，这使得参与者更容易识别和理解。普通消费者不仅可以理解 DePIN 是什么，而且在很多情况下，它还增强了他们的用户体验。因此，消费者可能会参与生态系统中的多个层面。

DePIN also democratizes concepts traditionally controlled by large corporations. For example, consider a project called Wingbits, which aims to democratize the sharing of ADS-B data for tracking airplane paths. This data is valuable not only commercially but also for society. Many flight tracking projects rely on users supplying ADS-B data, yet these users typically receive no benefits. With Wingbits, users are rewarded for tracking flight data through ADS-B, for which they earn a share of the revenue through a token infrastructure with sound economics.

DePIN 还使传统上由大公司控制的概念民主化。例如，考虑一个名为 Wingbits 的项目，该项目旨在民主化用于跟踪飞机路径的 ADS-B 数据共享。这些数据不仅具有商业价值，而且对社会也有价值。许多航班跟踪项目依赖于用户提供 ADS-B 数据，但这些用户通常不会获得任何好处。借助 Wingbits，用户通过 ADS-B 跟踪航班数据而获得奖励，并通过具有良好经济性的代币基础设施赚取收入份额。

Differentiating DePINs

区分 DePIN

More recently, DePINs have moved beyond custom hardware. Now, DePIN projects include everyday items like phones, computers, servers and even standard hardware bought for general purposes. Because of this, we’ve decided to categorize DePIN into two types: Commodity and Bespoke. This way, we can explore and make the most of both everyday and specialized hardware in expanding the DePIN ecosystem.

最近，DePIN 已经超越了定制硬件。现在，DePIN 项目包括电话、计算机、服务器等日常用品，甚至是为通用目的购买的标准硬件。因此，我们决定将 DePIN 分为两种类型：商品型和定制型。这样，我们就可以探索并充分利用日常和专用硬件来扩展 DePIN 生态系统。

Commodity DePIN is all about scalability, versatility and inclusivity. It empowers projects to use a wide range of hardware, from laptops and smartphones to specialized platforms like Raspberry Pi units. By separating infrastructure software from specific hardware requirements, Commodity DePIN allows projects to adapt easily to different environments and resource constraints. Whether in bustling cities or remote areas, Commodity DePIN thrives by utilizing everyday hardware resources, democratizing infrastructure development and promoting grassroots innovation. Another big advantage is its potential for rapid growth, as supply chains don’t hinder the onboarding of existing hardware. Examples in this category include UpRock, Natix and Silencio.

Commodity DePIN 的核心是可扩展性、多功能性和包容性。它使项目能够使用各种硬件，从笔记本电脑和智能手机到 Raspberry Pi 设备等专用平台。通过将基础设施软件与特定硬件要求分开，Commodity DePIN 使项目能够轻松适应不同的环境和资源限制。无论是在繁华的城市还是偏远地区，商品 DePIN 都通过利用日常硬件资源、民主化基础设施开发和促进草根创新而蓬勃发展。另一大优势是其快速增长的潜力，因为供应链不会阻碍现有硬件的使用。此类别的示例包括 UpRock、Natix 和 Silencio。

In contrast, Bespoke DePIN is all about precision and optimization. This approach involves designing and creating custom hardware to meet specific project needs. Companies like Hivemapper, GEODNET, Ambient and Dimo Network are great examples of Bespoke DePIN. They engineer hardware solutions tailored for specific tasks, such as mapping, connectivity or data processing. This customization offers unmatched performance, reliability and scalability. It also opens up new possibilities for innovation, allowing projects to push the boundaries of what’s possible in fields like IoT, telecommunications, and environmental monitoring.

相比之下，Bespoke DePIN 则注重精确性和优化。这种方法涉及设计和创建定制硬件以满足特定项目需求。 Hivemapper、GEODNET、Ambient 和 Dimo Network 等公司都是 Bespoke DePIN 的典范。他们设计针对特定任务（例如绘图、连接或数据处理）量身定制的硬件解决方案。这种定制提供了无与伦比的性能、可靠性和可扩展性。它还为创新开辟了新的可能性，使项目能够突破物联网、电信和环境监测等领域的可能性界限。

There is no reason why DePINs cannot simultaneously be both commodity and bespoke. A DePIN may initially operate as a commodity network, and as it grows and gains financial stability, it can transition to offering bespoke solutions that enhance the network’s capabilities. In certain instances, bespoke devices may even prove to be more beneficial and rewarding (due to the cost and complexity of the device rewards are greater in many cases) to own than their commodity counterparts.

DePIN 没有理由不能同时兼具商品性和定制性。 DePIN 最初可能作为商品网络运营，随着其发展并获得财务稳定性，它可以过渡到提供增强网络功能的定制解决方案。在某些情况下，事实证明，拥有定制设备甚至可能比商品设备更有利、更有回报（因为设备的成本和复杂性在许多情况下回报更大）。

DePIN Trends

德品趋势

While predicting the future is

虽然预测未来是