DePINs：新的 Web3 領域將加密貨幣帶入現實世界

沒有什麼比一個全新的神秘縮寫更能讓普通加密貨幣愛好者興奮不已了。這個週期，DePIN旗幟高高飄揚。

People in crypto get excited about new cryptic abbreviations to rally around. This cycle, the DePIN banner is flying high, and compared to some of the past crazes, this one is actually pretty wholesome. Not just that — it’s exciting, it has a ton of potential, and it marries Web3 and the real world in a way that actually makes sense… All while being a beast the mainstream crypto space is unprepared for.

加密領域的人們對新的神秘縮寫感到興奮，並聚集在一起。這一輪，DePIN大旗飄揚得高高飄揚，比起過去的一些熱潮，這次其實還算是比較健康的。不僅如此，它令人興奮，它具有巨大的潛力，並且它以一種真正有意義的方式將 Web3 和現實世界結合起來……儘管它是主流加密貨幣領域尚未做好準備的野獸。

Why? Before we dive into that, let’s quickly put the spotlight on the “what.”

為什麼？在我們深入探討之前，讓我們先快速關注「什麼」。

Demystifying DePIN

揭秘 DePIN

For now, quite a few people — even crypto-natives — arch their eyebrows at the mention of DePIN as the term is yet to fully settle in. So in the interest of clarity, DePIN stands for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks, or in simple terms, real-world applications. DePINs leverage tokens to incentivize people to set up hardware for providing and rendering real-world services. Think car-sharing, peer-to-peer solar power trading, 5G or WiFi connectivity, street mapping, electric vehicle charging, environmental data collection through smartphones, and other exciting use cases.

目前，相當多的人——甚至是加密貨幣原住民——一提到DePIN 就皺起了眉頭，因為這個術語還沒有完全定型。或者簡單地說，實際應用。 DePIN 利用代幣來激勵人們設置硬體來提供和呈現現實世界的服務。想想汽車共享、點對點太陽能交易、5G 或 WiFi 連接、街道測繪、電動車充電、透過智慧型手機收集環境數據以及其他令人興奮的用例。

This op-ed is part of CoinDesk's new "DePIN Vertical" devoted to exploring the future of decentralized infrastructure.

這篇專欄文章是 CoinDesk 新的「DePIN Vertical」的一部分，致力於探索去中心化基礎設施的未來。

As an example, consider Silencio, which enables people to record noise pollution levels with their smartphones and earn token rewards for it. Another DePIN, Wingbits, uses tokens to incentivize people to set up private antennas tracking planes’ location data broadcasts. For history buffs among us, the fundamental model behind DePINs isn’t new; only the term, coined by Messari in late 2022, is actually relatively recent.

以 Silencio 為例，它使人們能夠用智慧型手機記錄噪音污染水平並為此賺取代幣獎勵。另一個 DePIN Wingbits 使用代幣激勵人們設置私人天線來追蹤飛機的位置數據廣播。對於我們這些歷史愛好者來說，DeP​​IN 背後的基本模型並不新鮮。只有 Messari 在 2022 年底創造的這個術語實際上是相對較新的。

Early on, the name got its fair share of smirks — nothing wrong with that, memes are the way of Web3 — but its introduction set off a powerful movement imbued with a promise of change. And this change, interestingly enough, goes both ways, not only aiming at how we manage and earn from devices, but also making us, the Web3 natives, reconsider the way we think about Web3.

在早期，這個名字引起了很多人的嘲笑——這沒什麼錯，模因是 Web3 的方式——但它的推出引發了一場充滿變革承諾的強大運動。有趣的是，這種變化是雙向的，不僅針對我們如何管理設備並從設備中賺錢，還讓我們這些 Web3 原生者重新考慮我們對 Web3 的看法。

Bringing crypto into the real world is an exciting idea, if not a one-of-a-kind opportunity. It’s what the masses have been waiting for: real, tangible use-cases for blockchain that people actually need and use daily. The flipside is that this one-of-a-kind opportunity takes a bit more effort from launching another dog-themed memecoin, and has a lot of its own specifics too.

將加密貨幣帶入現實世界是一個令人興奮的想法，即使不是獨一無二的機會。這就是大眾一直在等待的：人們每天實際需要和使用的真實、有形的區塊鏈用例。另一方面是，這個獨特的機會需要付出更多的努力來推出另一種以狗為主題的迷因幣，並且也有很多自己的特點。

Why DePINs aren’t regular dApps

為什麼 DePIN 不是常規的 dApp

So what makes DePINs special? To answer this question, let’s imagine a hypothetical DePIN that enables you to earn tokens for measuring local temperature through a smart thermometer. That’s already where we bump right into one of the many, many elephants in the room: the hardware.

那麼 DePIN 有何特別之處呢？為了回答這個問題，讓我們想像一個假設的 DePIN，它使您能夠透過智慧溫度計測量當地溫度來賺取代幣。這就是我們遇到房間裡眾多大象之一的地方：硬體。

How do we go about the thermometers? Do we let users connect any third-party devices capable of recording and sending data? Sure, and let’s applaud our own open-source spirit while we’re at it. But let’s not forget to write the code that will support the widest variety of smart sensors and will feature a simple user interface that will make adding them a breeze. And that’s no easy task, mind you.

我們該如何使用溫度計呢？我們是否允許使用者連接任何能夠記錄和發送資料的第三方設備？當然，讓我們為我們自己的開源精神鼓掌吧。但我們不要忘記編寫支援最廣泛的智慧感測器的程式碼，並具有簡單的使用者介面，使添加它們變得輕而易舉。請注意，這不是一件容易的事。

The alternative is to manufacture the hardware ourselves, which lands us in yet another animal reservation. Now, we’re no longer simply building a dApp, we’re also building a custom piece of hardware and taking on the joys of manufacturing, storage, and shipment. Of course, we can always buy a white-label solution, hire contractors, and do a ton of other reasonable things, which all lead us to our next trunked beast: the token economics.

另一種選擇是自己製造硬件，這使我們陷入了另一個動物保護區。現在，我們不再簡單地建立 dApp，我們也正在建立客製化硬體並享受製造、儲存和運輸的樂趣。當然，我們總是可以購買白標解決方案，僱用承包商，並做大量其他合理的事情，所有這些都將我們引向下一個巨獸：代幣經濟學。

You see, the price of all of that has to be accounted for in the token economics. Whether we expect the community to purchase a thermometer from us or not, we have to be mindful of this investment when we lay out the rewards and incentives. People will expect a return on their investment in hardware, after all, and quite reasonably. And with that, we are no longer writing token economics for people, as regular dApps do, we are writing them for people and value-generating machines — machines that are growing more intelligent by the day and turning from mere tools into economic agents.

你看，所有這些的價格都必須在代幣經濟學中考慮。無論我們是否希望社區從我們這裡購買溫度計，我們在製定獎勵和激勵措施時都必須注意這項投資。畢竟，人們會期望在硬體上的投資得到回報，而且是相當合理的。這樣，我們不再像常規 dApp 那樣為人們編寫代幣經濟學，而是為人和價值生成機器編寫代幣經濟學——這些機器日益變得更加智能，並從單純的工具轉變為經濟主體。

See how significant this distinction is? And that’s only the supply side so far.

看出這個差異有多重要了嗎？到目前為止，這還只是供應方面。

Being real ain’t easy

做真實的人並不容易

Now, let’s consider the other part of the equation. A crypto token can live off the hype, memes, and sheer unhinged speculation we know Web3 for. A DePIN can’t. In our case, it needs weather companies, researchers, and anyone else willing to buy the temperature data we collect. In other cases, it’s devices using its IoT connectivity network, or drivers looking for charging spots; the gist is, DePIN

現在，讓我們考慮等式的另一部分。加密代幣可以依靠炒作、迷因和我們熟知的 Web3 的純粹瘋狂猜測而生存。 DePIN 則不能。就我們而言，它需要氣象公司、研究人員和任何其他願意購買我們收集的溫度數據的人。在其他情況下，是使用物聯網連接網路的設備，或是尋找充電點的駕駛者；重點是，DePIN