The "Economic Incentives" Trap in the Web3 World: The Reality and Illusion of DePIN Projects

In recent years, the Web3 space has been constantly playing out the old routine of "economic incentives + scenario packaging." From Filecoin mining machines to the GameFi boom, and now to the concept of DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network), these projects, although once very promising, ultimately failed to find a sustainable commercialization path.

The emergence of DePIN has rekindled the enthusiasm in the Web3 community. Compared to GameFi, DePIN seems to be more closely related to real life, covering multiple fields such as electricity, communication, and transportation. However, when we take a closer look at these projects, we find that they may just be another round of "zombie" hardware scams.

More than 60% of DePIN device suppliers in the market come from Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, and the selling price of these devices is often 30-50 times the wholesale price. Most hardware investors lose all their money, and the purchased DePIN tokens are also difficult to rebound, leaving them helplessly watching their assets shrink.

Project Review: Painful Lessons for Investors

Helium: From Scarcity to Neglect

Helium was once a star project in the DePIN field, building a decentralized LoRaWAN network and launching low-cost mobile communication services. However, the price of its devices skyrocketed from tens of dollars to 2500 dollars, ultimately leading to severe losses for investors, a dramatic drop in coin value, and miners losing their capital.

Hivemapper: Driving to mine is difficult to break even.

Hivemapper has launched a $549 dashcam, allowing users to earn token rewards by uploading geographic data. However, the price of its HONEY token has been sluggish for a long time, the quality of map data is concerning, and the payback period is long. The project mainly covers the European and American markets, with almost no practical application scenarios for Asian users.

Jambo: The Web3 Mobile Myth of the African Market

Jambo has launched a Web3 phone priced at $99 in the African market, with sales exceeding 400,000 units. However, this feels more like a marketing campaign fueled by the surge of the APT token rather than a true technological innovation. The dApp ecosystem pre-installed on the phone struggles to support long-term usage demands.

Ordz Game: A Web3 Version of the Retro Handheld Console

Ordz Game has launched the BitBoy handheld console priced at 0.01 BTC, focusing on the "play-to-earn" concept. However, its gaming experience remains at the retro ROM level, lacking innovation. The token ORDG has transformed into GAMES, but still lacks liquidity and practical value.

TON Phone: Expensive Android "Senior Phone"

The TON phone is priced close to $500, but users have described it as having a "senior phone feel." Despite including a phone case and claiming to have airdrop expectations, its specifications are average, the UI/UX lacks features, and the ecosystem development is still at a conceptual stage.

Starpower: Overpriced Smart Socket

Starpower claims to be a smart power DePIN project under the Solana ecosystem, but its $100 socket price is significantly higher than similar products on the market. The project company is newly established, the technology is not transparent, and the ecological incentives have not yet been clarified, making it more like a "storytelling" style of hardware sales.

The Essence and Challenges of DePIN

DePIN is essentially an attempt to extend the "economic incentive model" of Web3 into the real world. Theoretically, it can decentralize real-world infrastructure, build large-scale user networks, and achieve fair incentives and transparent governance through token design.

However, most DePIN projects at this stage rely on "selling hardware" to harvest retail investors. These projects often attract new users through KOL packaging, narrative blueprints, and airdrop expectations, rather than truly building valuable networks.

Truly successful DePIN projects require strong supply and demand model design, transparent and ongoing incentive mechanisms, and an in-depth understanding of the hardware and infrastructure sectors. The current market bubble lies in the fact that most projects do not solve real problems, but rather package concepts to harvest users.

In the future, we look forward to seeing DePIN projects that do not rely on selling hardware or telling stories, but rather on real usage and revenue. Only in this way can DePIN truly realize its vision of decentralized infrastructure, rather than becoming just another round of the Web3 Ponzi scheme.