# Decentralized physical infrastructure network

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs) represent a new approach to building and managing infrastructure by using blockchain and cryptoeconomic incentives. Unlike traditional systems controlled by large corporations, DePINs enable individuals and organizations to collectively develop and operate physical infrastructure like wireless networks, energy grids, and transportation systems. Participants earn financial rewards and ownership stakes through tokenized incentives, promoting efficiency and equity.
DePINs extend the principles of the sharing economy—similar to platforms like Uber and Airbnb—but decentralize ownership and control. For example, projects like DIMO allows drivers to retain full earnings and participate in governance through tokens, showcasing how DePINs democratize infrastructure and reduce costs while fostering innovation.

## Platforms and technologies

Some competing standards and vendors for DePIN space include:
* Helium a solana based network.
* Filecoin a decentralised storage network.
* Wifi Dabba is a Solana-based DePIN providing low-cost internet services in India.
* Mawari, a network of streaming nodes for XR content.
* Sigfox, UNB-based technology and French company.
* LoRa is a proprietary, chirp spread spectrum radio modulation technology for LPWAN used by LoRaWAN, Haystack Technologies, and Symphony Link.
* MIoTy, implementing Telegram Splitting technology.
* Weightless is an open standard, narrowband technology for LPWAN used by Ubiik
* ELTRES, a LPWA technology developed by Sony, with transmission ranges of over 100 km while moving at speeds of 100 km/h.
* IEEE 802.11ah, also known as Wi-Fi HaLow, is a low-power, wide-area implementation of 802.11 wireless networking standard using sub-gig frequencies.
* YOM is the first decentralized cloud gaming infrastructure (DePIN), streaming games, immersive experiences, white-label metaverses and entirely new entertainment formats at scale, Leveraging a distributed network of gaming machines, YOM offers global low-latency near-zero costs cloud gaming to any device and channel, effectively eliminating the need for dedicated game consoles.

## Types of DePINs: PRNs and DRNs

Depending on their purpose, DePINs can be divided into two types: Physical Resource Networks (PRNs), which involve the management of physical resources like IoT devices and goods, and Digital Resource Networks (DRNs), which are used to exchange data among digital resources without the need to be in the same place.
* Physical Resource Networks (PRNs). Physical Resource Networks (PRNs) provide services to a community using physical assets (rather than software) as the basis of a decentralised network. PRNs rely on physical assets such as hardware, infrastructure and physical goods because these assets can be operated by a community. This means that any of these assets might be a part of a PRN, and the community can collectively incentivise human behaviour through ownership of physical goods. Example: Helium Network
* Digital Resource Networks (DRNs). DRNs leverage not physical resources like fibre but digital ones, such as data, computational and other digital services. DRNs distribute incentive structures across a distributed community of human and digital agents that, in turn, control and manage a collection of distributed digital resources that are designed to optimise their potential. DRNs leverage a 'long tail' of idle capacity from participants That's because DRNs provide incentives to participants to contribute their digital 'assets' (i.e., data, computational and other digital services) to the network. Example: Golem Network