DePIN Proved Itself

DePIN skeptics went quiet. The networks actually work now. Real coverage, real utility, real users paying for services. The concept survived contact with reality.

Wireless networks hit coverage density that matters. Not everywhere but enough places that phones can actually use the networks. The quality improved from barely functional to genuinely usable.

Compute networks found their niches. Not competing with AWS directly but serving use cases centralized providers won't touch. Censorship-resistant hosting, privacy-preserving computation, geographic distribution requirements.

The token economics stabilized after early volatility. Sustainable emission schedules, demand matching supply, prices reflecting actual network value. The ponzinomics accusations have less merit now.

Storage networks matured quietly. Petabytes of data, millions of files, competitive with centralized alternatives on price. The performance gap closed.

What convinced me was seeing non-crypto companies using DePIN services. They don't care about decentralization ideology. The service is just better or cheaper for their specific needs. Real product-market fit.