How Crypto Can Enable the Future of Drone Services

What if Uber paid their drivers with tokens? This episode explores how tokenization and decentralization are creating new economic models for drone-based businesses and the pilots who power them.

Matt Chwierut brings over a decade of experience to break down complex concepts like tokens, token-powered networks, and how they differ from traditional platform models. He explains why LayerDrone chose to build on blockchain, what it means for drone pilots to be paid in tokens rather than cash, and how this approach creates a fundamentally different relationship between contributors and the networks they help build.

From the evolution of open-source protocols to the limitations of platform-based models like Uber, Matt explains how tokens offer a third path—one that combines the openness of protocols with aligned financial incentives for all participants.

Guest: Matt Chwierut, Head of Crypto, Spexi Geospatial, Inc.

Discussed:

• What is a token? Understanding provably scarce digital assets and how they differ from traditional digital currencies
• Token-powered networks: The third way between open-source protocols and centralized platforms
• Why LayerDrone chose blockchain: Moving beyond the "Uber for drones" model to give pilots a stake in the network
• DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks): How physical infrastructure meets blockchain incentives
• Pilot empowerment: Why paying pilots in tokens creates fundamentally different economics than cash-based platforms
• The future of decentralized work: Coordinating skilled human contributors in non-fungible work through tokenization

Timestamps:

• [00:00] Introduction to DRONE ON
• [01:00] Guest introduction: Matt Chwierut's decade in Web3
• [03:00] What is a token? Breaking down the basics
• [05:00] Token-powered networks: A third path for digital infrastructure
• [08:00] The problems with traditional platform models
• [11:00] What is DePIN and why it matters for drones
• [15:00] Why LayerDrone chose to build on blockchain
• [18:00] How paying pilots in tokens is different from paying in cash
• [23:00] Where to learn more about LayerDrone
• [23:30] "Bryce is Wrong" segment: Blockchain stories from 2018

Hosted by Bryce Bladon (brycebladon.com) | Edited by AJ Fillari (ajfillari.online) | Sponsored by Spexi.com & LayerDrone.org