DePIN vs RWA

Depin (Decentralized physical infrastructure network)

Phyken Network
5 min readJan 10, 2024

The core concept of blockchain technology is decentralization. As we progress towards a decentralized landscape, embracing the shift and transitioning from centralization, the essence of blockchain becomes evident. This shift is observable in the increasing embrace of #DeFi in recent years and the adoption of DAO for governance. The driving force behind emerging sectors, decentralization, now finds a new frontier in DePin — revolutionizing physical infrastructure networks and disrupting the traditional centralized model with immense potential.

The deployment and management of physical infrastructure, such as telecom networks, cloud services, mobility networks, and power grids, have historically been dominated by large corporations. This dominance is a result of their substantial capital requirements and logistical challenges. Consequently, these corporations have maintained a near-monopoly on pricing, conditions, and services offered to end-users, leading to a lack of competition and innovation.

This is precisely why DePINs are poised to be the future of the physical infrastructure industry. They have the potential to revolutionize the sector through decentralization, blockchain, and tokenomics.

#DePINs enable globally distributed individuals to collectively build, maintain, and operate people-owned physical infrastructure networks without needing a single, centralized entity.

DePINs incentivize individuals to construct physical infrastructure networks for both people and machines, eliminating the need for a massive upfront investment as required by traditional business models. Tokens serve as incentives for deploying hardware that offers services to others. Individuals on the supply side earn rewards by providing either new or existing hardware to those seeking the goods or services that the hardware provides. Since there are no intermediaries involved, the goods and services are often more cost-effective and efficient, creating a more streamlined and equitable model for infrastructure deployment.

For example, when you enable your internet hotspot for your neighborhood, your neighbor incentivizes you with a native network token. In this scenario, you represent the supply side, while your neighbor is on the demand side. Helium, for instance, enables users to contribute to decentralized wireless networks by setting up hotspots and facilitating secure, low-cost, and energy-efficient connections for smart devices.

DePINs’ four fundamental components

Physical infrastructure network: #DePIN networks require physical infrastructure to operate. That can be anything from vehicles for mobility networks to solar panels and batteries for energy networks.

Off-chain computing infrastructure: #DePIN relies on middleware to connect the physical and blockchain worlds. User real-world activities are accounted for in their reward calculator and distribution.

Token Incentives: Supply-side participants are incentivized to join and contribute to the network through token rewards. These tokens act as a subsidy to supply-side participants, allowing them to build out the network before it generates sustainable fees from demand-side usage.

Supply-side participants: Anyone can become a supply-side participant in a #DePIN network by deploying their physical infrastructure and connecting it to the network.

Demand-side usage: Once the network is established, end users can begin paying to utilize the network’s services or consume crowd-sourced real-world data.

#DePINs represent an exciting new frontier in the world of blockchain technology. They offer a new way of building and operating real-world infrastructure that is more equitable, efficient and aligned with the interests of network participants. As technology evolves and new use cases emerge, we can expect #DePINs to play an increasingly important role in developing our physical world.

RWA ( Real World Assets)

Real-world assets (#RWAs) refer to tangible and intangible assets in the physical world, such as real estate, renewable energies, or bank bonds... #RWA tokenization involves bringing these assets on-chain through the use of tokenization. Tokenization of assets is a process wherein the rights to an asset are converted into a digital token on a blockchain.

Tangible and intangible assets are tokenized, breaking the barrier of requiring users to buy and own the entire asset. This enables users to have partial ownership of real-world assets. Assets have been tokenized and distributed on the blockchain in the form of tokens or NFTs. A portion of the asset’s value and ownership is represented through tokenization.

Adoption of RWA is growing in the crypto space, with a TVL of over $770 million as end July 2023

Blockchain technology achieves transparency, immutability, and decentralization. Liquidity ensures that tokens can be easily bought or sold anytime, anywhere. Assets undergo verification and validation on-chain. Notably, our assets and tokens are not controlled by a single centralized entity, making the system transparent, safe, and secure. Storing information on the blockchain eliminates both intermediaries and barriers to asset ownership, providing complete accountability for your assets. This efficient functioning is poised to trigger a revolutionary transformation in the future economy and asset management.

The tokenization of Real-World Assets amplifies their composability, enhancing their ability to be readily utilized for essential purposes such as lending and borrowing, ownership and identity, and gated access.

Distinctive Dynamics Between DePINs and RWAs

The critical distinction between #DePINs and #RWAs lies in their distinct approaches to constructing and sustaining infrastructure. #DePINs introduce an innovative method for building physical-world networks, utilizing token incentives and governance rights to motivate contributors in a decentralized manner, with tokens facilitating decentralized transactions for infrastructure exchange within the network.

In contrast, #RWAs (Real-World Assets) involve the on-chain tokenization of both tangible and intangible assets, where each token represents ownership or partial ownership of the corresponding real-world asset. Notably, both #DePIN and #RWA markets command trillions of dollars in value, emphasizing the immense potential of these revolutionary decentralized industries propelled by blockchain technology. #DePin and #RWA present innovative opportunities to transform and influence the next generation of #Web3 builders.

Conclusion

#DePINs and #RWAs are major narratives in 2024. #DePINs decentralize physical infrastructure networks, promoting global collaboration without centralized control. #RWAs tokenize Real-World Assets, enhancing transparency and liquidity. Despite their distinct focuses, both industries, with trillions in value, signal a transformative innovation in #Web3, reshaping our digital and physical landscapes in the next few years.

About Phyken Network

Phyken Network is a Layer 1 app-chain and DeFi protocol on Polkadot, building an RWA asset fractionalization protocol, particularly emphasizing #GRWA: renewable energies and solar power on the blockchain — Secured by Polkadot

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Written by: https://medium.com/@rjkesavchandar

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