The Old Tricks of the Web3 World: The Rise and Fall of DePIN Projects

In the Web3 field, we continuously see the old routine of "economic incentives + scenario packaging" being repeated. From Filecoin mining machines to the GameFi craze, and now to the DePIN( decentralized physical infrastructure network) concept, this model seems to emerge endlessly.

The emergence of DePIN has once again ignited the enthusiasm in the Web3 community. It promises token rewards through daily activities such as charging, making calls, and driving, seemingly closer to real life than games. However, when we delve deeper into these projects, we discover a disturbing fact: most DePIN devices come from Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen, and their prices are often 30-50 times the wholesale price. Many investors are left with nothing, the value of tokens continues to decline, and the so-called "ecological landing" is nowhere in sight. This feels more like a hardware scam disguised as innovation.

Project Review: Painful Lessons for Investors

Helium: From Hard to Find to No One Cares

Helium was once a star in the DePIN field, building a decentralized LoRaWAN network, and later launched low-cost mobile communication services. However, its device investment story has become a typical case of retail investor harvesting. Hotspot miners that were once speculated to $2500 each ultimately left investors with nothing. Nodes in the Chinese region were banned, the value of the miners plummeted, and the coin price fell sharply.

Hivemapper: High-priced cameras are hard to recoup costs.

Hivemapper sells a dashcam for $549, allowing users to earn token rewards by uploading geographic data. But the problem is:

• The expensive hardware prices are not proportional to the sluggish token prices.
• The quality and coverage of map data are questionable.
• Mainly targeted at developed country markets, with limited landing scenarios in Asia.

Jambo: The Web3 Mobile Myth of the African Market

Jambo has launched a $99 Web3 phone in Africa, which has seen considerable sales. However, this seems more like a marketing campaign that capitalizes on the surge of a certain ecosystem token. The phone comes pre-installed with dApps that allow users to earn JAMBO tokens, but the value and liquidity of the tokens are questionable, lacking a true data monetization closed loop.

Ordz Game: A Web3 version of the retro handheld console

The Ordz Game has launched the BitBoy handheld console priced at 0.01 BTC, focusing on the "play-to-mine" concept. But essentially:

• The gaming experience remains at retro ROM level
• Tokens lack liquidity and actual value
• Just a hardware replica of the GameFi model

TON phone: an expensive Android senior phone

The TON phone is priced at nearly 500 dollars, but users describe it as having a "senior phone feel." Despite the expectation of airdrop bonuses, however:

• The airdrop quality is not as good as similar projects.
• The phone itself lacks innovation.
• Ecological construction is still at the paper stage.

Starpower: the perplexingly high-priced plug

Starpower sells smart sockets and other hardware, claiming to be a smart power DePIN project under the Solana ecosystem. However:

• A regular plug is priced at 100 dollars, far above the market price.
• The project company has been newly established, and the technology is opaque.
• The ecological incentive model has not been clarified.

Energy DePIN projects: Break away from market logic

Projects like Glow and PowerLedger, although they have beautiful concepts, face numerous real-world challenges:

• The buyers and verification mechanisms of carbon credit trading are unclear.
• The P2P energy trading platform lacks successful cases.
• There are significant barriers to regulation and commercial implementation.

Conclusion

The concept of DePIN has the potential to decentralize real-world infrastructure, but most projects are still at the "selling hardware" stage. A truly successful DePIN requires a strong supply and demand model design, a transparent and continuous incentive mechanism, and a deep understanding of the hardware and infrastructure sectors.

Currently, the bubble in the DePIN market mainly lies in the fact that most projects do not solve real problems but rather package concepts to harvest users. When hardware becomes a tool for speculation, tokens turn into worthless digital coupons, and all narratives revolve around airdrops, DePIN is just another round of Ponzi scheme in the Web3 world.

We look forward to seeing DePIN projects that truly rely on actual usage and real income for survival, rather than those that only sustain themselves by selling hardware or telling stories. Only in this way can DePIN truly realize its vision of decentralized infrastructure.