Tim Kravchunovsky, founder and CEO of decentralized IoT network Chirp, says the exponential growth of the decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) sector positions it to challenge the trillion-dollar telecommunications industry
Commenting on the vast potential of decentralized IoT telecommunications, he explains how DePIN is creating a new paradigm that will allow for limitless connectivity powered by the people who use it.
Tim Kravchunovsky, founder and CEO of decentralized IoT network Chirp, says:
“Decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or “DePIN”, is one of the fastest growing sectors in Web3. According to figures from sector analyst EV3, the value of DePIN projects has more than tripled over the last six months, rising from $7 billion in October to over $25 billion today.
Despite this huge growth, though, few people understand what DePIN is – let alone comprehend the enormous potential it has to transform the way we all live our lives.
Building on the accessibility of blockchain technology, DePIN has the potential to allow anybody in the world to directly participate in and take control of many of the essential real-world services that we need to live our everyday lives, whether this is wireless connectivity, energy usage, the security of our homes and workplaces, commuting, driving and parking, or tackling noise pollution.
Projects in this space typically have physical infrastructure attached to token rewards. This can be through a device or perhaps simply an application on a mobile phone that allows users to participate in the running of a network or gathering data.
In this way, regular people can start building their own infrastructure networks for a fraction of the price that centralized entities pay. For example, in the telecoms industry, if you wanted to start your own network you would need hundreds of millions of dollars to buy land and put up masts that tap into existing networks owned by large corporations, or build one yourself.
However, with a project like Chirp, all you need to do is place one of our Blackbird antennas on the side of your home – or even take part in fractional ownership. In this simple way, anyone can participate in building a global connectivity solution based on Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile voice technology.
Much more than talking refrigerators, IoT technology has the power to connect us in ways that are unimaginable today. With IoT networks – which are powered by the people installing and running devices – a lost dog wearing a sensor will never be lost, a home security system will have backup networks, and a climate-controlled medical facility will never lose valuable, life-saving medicines.
The power of Chirp, which strips away the need for redundant, ineffective, and cumbersome infrastructure for IoT, means our network can connect much greater spaces with much less hardware. Just nine Blackbirds, for example, are currently providing almost full IoT connectivity across Berlin.
Today, though, IoT is very fractured. Every company is focused on its version of IoT and so the space is broken from the user perspective because we have to juggle proprietary apps that aren’t interconnected. This is similar to the fragmented nature of the blockchain ecosystem, where we have a growing number of chains, but most aren’t interoperable with each other. Chirp plans to unite all IoT capabilities under one roof to create a network and solution that is interoperable with all IoT solutions on the market.
Other DePIN projects are targeting other much-needed areas of public infrastructure. The NATIX Network, for example, is building a DePIN of smartphones that, through a camera app, is building a database of information about traffic and road conditions that can significantly improve road infrastructure in the future. Meanwhile, the Silencio network is helping people tackle noise pollution through over 35,000 sensors built into smartphones in a bid to improve health and well-being across the world.
The potential of DePIN truly knows no bounds, and this year we will see a significant expansion of the sector. Entrepreneurs who have long had ideas about how to improve the world around them are coming to realize that, through blockchain technology, the barrier to doing so is much lower than they thought. It’s an exciting time for both the real and Web3 worlds.”
Above, Tim Kravchunovsky, founder and CEO of decentralized IoT network Chirp / image credited to Chirp
