DePINed podcast

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) promise a new internet. In this episode, Jason Brink, CEO and co-founder of Datagram, explains why most DePIN projects fail and what it actually takes to build one that works.Datagram is not another “node-for-tokens” network. It’s a production-grade decentralized infrastructure already serving hundreds of real B2B customers, handling voice, video, connectivity, and soon AI inference — at a fraction of the cost of centralized providers.What we cover in this episode:- How Datagram operates as a decentralized alternative to AWS for connectivity, video, and infrastructure- Why transparency in uptime, usage, and token distribution is critical for long-term sustainability- Datagram’s 100% buy-and-burn token model and how revenue directly supports node operators- Real traction: 400+ B2B customers, government and academic use cases, and live production traffic- The future roadmap: VPNs, decentralized AI inference, hosting, and full decentralized cloud services💡 This episode is a deep dive into real decentralization, real revenue, and real infrastructure. 🎙️ Don’t miss this deep dive into one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the DePIN ecosystem

Small, specialized AI models are catching up to and in many cases outperforming — frontier LLMs. Fortytwo is building a decentralized compute network where thousands of lightweight models collaborate, rank each other’s outputs, and produce reasoning-quality results that rival the biggest models in the world. This is swarm Inference powered by DePIN.In this episode, Tom Trowbridge (Co-Founder of Fluence) talks with Ivan Nikitin, Co-Founder of Fortytwo — a decentralized AI network that recently surpassed GPT-5–class models on coding, math and hard-science benchmarks.🚀 This episode breaks down why the era of mega-models is slowing, how swarm architectures overcome hallucinations, and why decentralized compute may be the future of AI infrastructure:- Why small specialized models now outperform frontier LLMs on domain tasks- How Fortytwo’s “swarm ranking” filters out hallucinations and boosts accuracy- The limitations of giant models: diminishing returns & rising compute costs- Decentralized compute: consumer hardware as a global AI network- The Fortytwo reward system: reputation, incentives & proof-of-InferenceIf you want to understand why decentralized compute is challenging the frontier-model paradigm — and how swarm Inference could redefine the future of AI — listen now! 🎧

Explore how decentralized energy is transforming the power grid — rooftop solar, home batteries, virtual power plants, and on-chain financing. This is the new DePIN-powered energy economy.In this episode, Tom Trowbridge (co-founder of Fluence) talks with Jason Badeaux, co-founder of Daylight Energy — one of the fastest-growing decentralized energy networks in the world.Daylight recently announced a $75M funding round, combining venture capital with project finance to deploy thousands of solar-plus-storage systems across the U.S. This episode breaks down why electricity demand is exploding, how decentralized energy solves the bottleneck, and why the future grid will be built at the edge — home by home, community by community.What we cover in this episode:- Solar + battery systems becoming the new distributed power plants- The energy crunch: AI, EVs, industry and the surge in electricity demand- Virtual Power Plants as a scalable alternative to traditional utilities- Energy subscriptions: zero-upfront solar & storage for homeowners- DePIN incentives creating community-driven grid expansion- On-chain financing and real-world yields through Daylight’s GRID token- The roadmap to 1M decentralized energy homes and gigawatt-scale impactIf you want to understand how DePIN intersects with energy, why virtual power plants are the future, and how decentralized finance will fund the next wave of power infrastructure — listen now! 🎧

Explore how Carrier One is redefining global connectivity through DePIN and bringing telecom into Web3.In this episode, Tom Trowbridge interviews Samer Bishay (CEO & co-founder of Karrier One) — a decentralized telecom network enabling global roaming, local coverage, and Web3-native identity for millions of mobile users.Carrier One merges 25+ years of telco expertise with DePIN economics to solve one of the world’s biggest challenges:💡 1/3 of humanity still has no reliable internet access, and over 2 billion people remain unbankedThis conversation dives deep into: - Why telecom is one of the most powerful real-world use cases for DePIN- The difference between Web3-first and Telco-first DePIN projects- How Carrier One enables global roaming using local hardware (WiFi, CBRS, macro nodes)- The economics behind a B2B DePIN model (AT&T partnership, real revenue)- Trustless settlement: why blockchain solves telecom’s biggest pain point- Tokenized connectivity: consumption, burn mechanics, incentives- Hardware deployment: how communities can earn from coverage- The long-term mission: connect the unconnected + bank the unbanked- What makes adoption so hard — and how Carrier Number solves onboarding- The 1M → 10M Web3-enabled phone vision- Global expansion beyond North America🎙️ If you want to understand the future of decentralized telecom, roaming without borders, and why DePIN is the biggest opportunity Telco has seen in decades — this episode is essential.

Explore how Grass became one of the most important data engines powering today’s AI models!In this episode, Tom Trowbridge (co-founder & CEO of Fluence) interviews Andrej Radonjic, Founder & CEO of Winged Labs — the team behind the Grass Network, a DePIN system with 8M+ residential devices contributing bandwidth and enabling petabytes of real-world web data for the world’s leading AI labs.This conversation dives deep into:- How Grass built the largest AI-focused DePIN network in the world- Why AI companies need massive, multimodal datasets (especially video)- How Grass handles hundreds of petabytes of data and pushes 4 PB/day at peak- The hidden world of residential proxy networks — and why Grass chose the ethical path- Why blockchain and tokenized network ownership are essential for scaling- Forced verticalization: building their own storage, servers, GPUs, and infra- The future of AI: Live Context Retrieval and real-time access to the entire public web- Token holders, incentives, and the economics behind a global data network🎙️ Grass is enabling AI models to see the real world in real time. If you want to understand the data layer behind the next generation of AI, this episode is essential.

In this episode of the DePINed Podcast, Tom Trowbridge sits down with Luis Oscar Ramirez, Founder of Mawari, the Immersive Compute Network powering the future of XR and AI.Mawari started as a Web2 company trying to solve the hard problem of streaming 3D content for AR/VR — and found DePIN as the only viable way to scale.Today, they’re running over 5,000 GPUs across APAC, powering real-time edge rendering, AI inference, and even virtual YouTubers — with a modular 4-node architecture and a mission to make immersive content truly global.Topics covered:– Why AR/VR needs real-time compute at the edge– How Mawari evolved from XR studio to DePIN infra– The use case explosion: from AI agents to K-pop avatars– DePIN in Asia: Japan, Korea, and the coming wave– Their upcoming Guardian Node launch & token modelA rare inside look at an Asia-first DePIN project solving real infrastructure challenges today.🎙️ Don’t miss this deep dive into one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the DePIN ecosystem

Mike Zajko, co-founder of Lattice Capital and a former CoinList operator, shares insights from his extensive experience in early-stage crypto and DePIN investments. He discusses the evolution of DePIN, emphasizing the need for real-world traction and revenue. Mike outlines key investment criteria like market size and expert teams, while reflecting on common founder missteps. The conversation touches on tokenomics, the impact of AI on market opportunities, and the importance of long-term alignment between token holders and project success.

Mateusz Poreda, co-founder of Rumi, discusses transforming passive TV into interactive experiences. He explains how decentralized nodes enable real-time content indexing and contextual ads. The conversation explores the potential of AI remotes for personalized media engagement and the future of contextual advertising. Mateusz also highlights the significance of incentives and token airdrops for user participation and Rumi's vision to create a gamified viewing experience, engaging audiences in ways never seen before.

What if anyone, anywhere could contribute to the next generation of AI and get paid for it?In this episode of the DePINed Podcast, we talk to Max Li, founder and CEO of OORT — a decentralized data collection network with over 350,000 contributors across 100+ countries and 100,000+ active nodes. OORT is building the global infrastructure for verifiable, crowd-sourced AI data — from speech to video to edge cases.We cover:Why synthetic data isn’t enough for next-gen AIHow OORT rewards real-world contributors and node operatorsTokenomics, staking & the upcoming “TikTok for AI data”Why Africa and LATAM are the next big data economiesLessons from scaling one of the largest AI data DePINsDon’t miss this deep dive into one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the DePIN ecosystem 🎙️

💡 Can blockchain help power the future? In this episode of DePINed Podcast, we sit down with Jemma Green, Executive Chairman and co-founder of PowerLedger to explore how decentralized infrastructure is reshaping the $2 trillion global energy industry.Jemma shares Powerledger’s journey — from launching Australia’s first ICO to building a cross-chain energy ecosystem on Solana and Ethereum. With 100+ deployments in 15 countries, Powerledger tracks, tokenizes, and automates clean energy transactions — from peer-to-peer solar trading to renewable energy certificates (RECs) and dynamic grid pricing.We cover:- How energy markets are being disrupted by AI, renewables & regulation- Why battery storage is the new local power plant- How Powerledger’s token (POWR) is evolving with new DePIN use cases- Community-owned energy, on-chain SLAs & economic incentives- What “true two-sided markets” for energy could look like- Why DePIN is the next breakout category in crypto🎙️ Don’t miss this deep dive into one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the DePIN ecosystem