DePINs are a proven path to crypto mass adoption – XYO co-founder
Decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePINs, remain one of the hottest narratives in the Web3 space this cycle. Although the technology has been around for several years, it has recently found new excitement as it returns to the bullishness of the crypto market.
DePINs allow regular people to contribute their physical infrastructure resources – like hard drive space or bandwidth – to help build a large decentralized network. One such project is XYO, where users store data for clients and receive crypto in return.
In episode 38 of the Agenda podcast, hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond talk with Marcus Levine, co-founder and CEO of XY Labs, the company behind the development of the XYO protocol. Levin notes that DePINs have the power to make artificial intelligence more trustworthy and have already made a big dent in crypto mass adoption.
The interview is the first in a series of in-person talks at the Consensus 2024 conference.
DePINs AI will take wrong information
Levine pointed out the tendency of AI models to “cheat” or generate and present false information. He argued that a DePIN system like XYO's, with every piece of data properly authenticated, would be immune to such illusions.
“The problem with nightmares is that the underlying data is often wrong. AI doesn't know which data to trust. And what we're doing is giving you confidence in that data,” Levin said.
“A general question, like a chicken soup recipe, might not be necessary, right? […] But if you think about medical information, for example, right? If you have a model where it's about medicine, what's the best course of action for a patient, that sort of thing, we want to be very, very, very sure where the data is coming from.
Will DePIN lead to mass adoption?
Asked whether there is a DePIN market bubble amid the current buzz surrounding the technology, Levin argued, “There is definitely no DePIN bubble.” Instead, he says, DPs are at the beginning of a long journey of development.
Related: Hashing It Out: Can Blockchain Create a Sovereign Internet?
At the same time, Levin acknowledged that there is excitement around the technology today — but the hype is there because DePINs are scalable and meet real customer needs, he argued. “The reason other projects want to get in there is because it works, right?” He commented.
“If you look at successful projects, they're here and there, aren't they? But the ones that have proven themselves for a long time, there aren't that many, right? But there's DPin that builds these real business models.”
When asked if the DePin protocol could be the killer app that would lead to widespread mass adoption, Levin replied, “We built it.” He added, “80% of our users are non-crypto people and 95% convert to crypto people. We have shamed more than 7 million people.
“We want blockchain to be everywhere. […] And DePIN can actually make that happen.
To hear more from Levine's conversation with Agenda — including how XYO handles data privacy, how DePIN differs from the Internet of Things, and more — listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph's Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And don't forget to check out Cointelegraph's full lineup of other shows!
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