Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN)
Last updated
Last updated
Whereas donating computational time is appropriate for nonprofit projects like Folding@Home and Seti@Home, many others simply need a commercial solution that incentivizes computer operators to join networks. Blockchain is an ideal framework for distributing and implementing such projects by providing the accountability and composability layer—while leaving the actual workloads to the technologies best suited to those tasks.
Today, there are Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN projects) for various applications that require specialized infrastructure. These projects are built around high-performing tech stacks where blockchain provides the accounting and compensation mechanisms. Examples include:
Helium: Install a Wi-Fi router anywhere you want. Network subscribers can access the Internet through your device, and they will pay you in the network currency for making it available.
Theta Network: a decentralized cloud for media, AI, and entertainment; Theta distributes video streaming across individual node operators and has a computational service that has implemented protein-folding within their network.
Aethir: harnesses cloud-based GPUs to enable rendering, cloud-based gaming, and AI applications.
Akash: allows users to provision and lease servers from a decentralized cloud.
DePIN Flywheel
An advantage of DePIN is the powerful built-in network effects. As demand grows on the network, suppliers are incentive to add more compute to meet the demand; as more supply is available, greater coverage (geographic as well as for an increasing number of games) becomes available; and as coverage expands, it simultaneously improves quality-of-service as well as lowers the risk for games to adopt the network. That, in turn, results in more transactions, greater liquidity, and accrual of value for native network tokens.
Composability
A unique opportunity for the Beamable DePIN is to further enhance the network effects by creating a marketplace of game-oriented backend code components. When combined with blockchain-based methods of capturing value (e.g., adding a software royalty to the computational service fees), it means that:
Third-party developers have a revenue incentive to join the network, maintain software add-ons, and even recruit new games to join the network.
Game developers benefit from interoperability and could even generate new sources of revenue by sharing interoperable components with other game studios.
As new software is built on top of the network, it further drives demand for computation, providing further incentive to compute suppliers.
Established Demand
One of the most challenging aspects of starting a new DePIN project is overcoming the cold-start problem inherent in any two-sided marketplace: gathering enough demand to make providing capacity attractive to suppliers. Fortunately, Beamable’s backend platform has enjoyed substantial growth. The API calls on the platform represent activity that will be progressively shifted towards the DePIN network to provide suppliers with demand.
As of January 2025, Beamable’s platform already services over 6 billion API calls per month. It does not matter if a game is a “web2” or “web3” demand—both require backend infrastructure, and the enormous demand that exists within the web2 gaming markets results in traffic that can be satisfied by a DePIN network; web2 games do not need to commit to open trading economies to benefit from DePIN.
