DePIN: The Emerging Field in the Crypto Assets Industry

DePIN, as an emerging vertical in the crypto assets industry, has become one of the most important narratives in this bull market. This concept encourages users to provide resources, maintain the network, and participate in governance through a token incentive mechanism, thereby obtaining economic returns. This model reshapes the way wealth is distributed and creates new wealth effects for ordinary people. Industry predictions suggest that the DePIN market size is expected to reach $3 trillion in the next 5 years.

Although the concept of DePIN emerged in the crypto market in 2023, IoTeX has been dedicated to combining the Internet of Things with blockchain since its establishment in 2017, helping users gain control over their smart devices and the data and value they generate. This vision aligns perfectly with today's DePIN concept, and it can be said that IoTeX is one of the pioneers in the DePIN field.

In July 2023, the IoTeX 2.0 white paper was officially released, proposing the slogan "DePIN For Everyone" and showcasing its long-term vision in the DePIN field. The goal of IoTeX 2.0 is to meet the rapidly growing demands of DePIN projects and users through modular platform design and energy structure upgrades. This initiative not only demonstrates IoTeX's years of deep cultivation in the DePIN field but also clarifies its future development direction: to improve DePIN infrastructure, develop the ecosystem, and help billions of users worldwide acquire wealth through DePIN.

In April 2024, IoTeX completed a $50 million financing round, led by several well-known investment institutions. This funding will be used for long-term staking investments in the $IOTX( DePIN token ), as well as to support DePIN projects built on the IoTeX chain in collaboration with the IoTeX Foundation and DePINsurf accelerator.

IoTeX 2.0: A Modular Public Chain Tailored for DePIN

After 6 years of dedicated development, IoTeX has upgraded from a Layer 1 public chain to a modular DePIN open platform, becoming the only ecosystem that supports DePIN in an open, modular, and large-scale adoption.

The Infrastructure Module DIM is the core of the IoTeX 2.0 technical architecture, covering identity recognition, off-chain computing, L2 SDK, and public products in the DePIN technology stack. These modules provide the necessary foundational products for DePIN projects, allowing project teams to select the appropriate technology stack for construction based on their needs.

The launch of IoTeX 2.0 greatly lowers the construction threshold for DePIN projects, allowing more ideas to be realized quickly, simply, and at a low cost. This not only helps turn more ideas into reality but also attracts more users to enter Web3 and benefit from it.

Core Public Infrastructure of IoTeX 2.0

1. W3bstream: The world's first zero-knowledge decentralized off-chain computing infrastructure designed for smart devices and real-world data.

2. DePINscan: A comprehensive DePIN data dashboard that helps users, miners, and investors discover early projects and monitor their growth.

3. IoPay: Multi-chain AA wallet, providing Web2 users with a convenient gateway to enter Web3.

4. IoTube: Cross-chain bridge, used to transfer tokens between IoTeX and major L1/L2.

In addition, IoTeX also plans to launch DeviceConnect( to connect W3bstream and various L1/L2 SDK) and IoID( on-chain and off-chain autonomous digital identities) and other new features.

Upgrade of the Economic System of IoTeX 2.0

IoTeX 2.0 introduces a new economic system, expands the utility of IOXT, balances inflationary staking rewards and gas fee destruction, and introduces a deflationary mechanism in scenarios such as creating device identities and obtaining verifiable credentials.

The modular security pool ( MSP ) is a core component of IoTeX 2.0, enabling IoTeX L1 to lease its proof of stake security to DIM for security and trust. Validators can earn incentives by re-staking their proof of stake ( PoS ) security to DIMs and DePIN projects, providing security assurances for the projects.

MSP is actually similar to Eigenlayer's Restaking mechanism, allowing IOXT to earn more rewards through Stake and Restaking, and introducing market-oriented mechanisms such as LSD, forming a positive feedback loop of IOXT's practicality and yield attributes.

Ecosystem Incentives of IoTeX 2.0

1. DePIN Surf Accelerator Program: A $5 million accelerator program launched in collaboration with multiple parties, focusing on DePIN and AI startups.

2. DePIN Liquidity Center Plan: Inject vitality into young DePIN projects, providing liquidity support and ecosystem resources.

3. Marshall DAO: Decentralized Autonomous Organization that allows IoTeX project stakeholders to propose the allocation of IOTX to promote ecosystem growth.

Development of the IoTeX Ecosystem

Currently, more than 200 projects have integrated into the IoTeX ecosystem, among which some noteworthy projects include:

• Network3: AI Layer2 Project
• Wayru: Shared WIFI infrastructure in collaboration with the United Nations
• Inferix: Decentralized GPU Network
• PowerPod: Shared Charging Pile Energy Network
• WatchX: Smart Wearable Device Ecosystem

IoTeX has also established a comprehensive DeFi ecosystem, including DEX(PinSwap, Loxodrome), derivatives trading platform(Quenta), decentralized stablecoin(Magma), and restaking platform(Bedrock).

Conclusion

The launch of IoTeX 2.0 marks an important milestone in the development of DePIN. With its innovative technology architecture and economic mechanisms, IoTeX 2.0 lays a solid foundation for the trillion-dollar DePIN track. It is expected that in the next 3-5 years, IoTeX will connect 100 million devices, releasing trillions of dollars of real-world value on the blockchain, opening up vast exploration space for the industry.