Decentralized wireless platform Uplink says it is adding more than 25,000 routers daily, with more than three million devices now registered, highlighting both the rapid growth of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and the operational challenges of scaling them.
"Right now, every new router is registered through our app, which helps filter out fake or misconfigured devices," said Carlos Lei, Uplink's co-founder and CEO, in an interview with Benzinga.
Lei added that validation will be expanded in an upcoming feature, "verifying/mapping routers in a way similar to Pokémon Go."
The company has designed mechanisms it calls telemetry, uptime monitoring and "useful work" incentives to ensure devices contribute to connectivity before earning rewards.
"By tying rewards to ‘useful work,' we ensure that only devices genuinely providing connectivity will earn incentives, keeping quality high," Lei said.
Lei argued that decentralized design gives DePIN platforms an inherent resilience absent in traditional telecom.
He pointed to outages such as AT&T's 2024 incident, which blocked 92 million calls, as examples of risks in centralized systems.
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"In a centralized system, one breach or one misconfiguration can paralyze millions of users. In DePIN, by contrast, the network is made up of thousands of independent nodes, so if one or even dozens fail, the rest of the system keeps working," he said.
Uplink has also developed what it calls a "3-Proof system" to verify enterprise-grade quality and reliability, and it uses a "Surge mechanism" to direct deployment into areas of highest need.
The company positions its model as complementary to established telecom providers rather than competitive.
"We're not competitors to the traditional players — we're partners, and we complement them," Lei said, adding that decentralized networks can help operators extend coverage to less profitable regions.
Global forecasts have put attention on the sector's potential.
The World Economic Forum has projected the DePIN market could reach $3.5 trillion by 2028, a figure Lei said is realistic.
"We're not dealing with a niche trend but with a fundamental shift: the convergence of blockchain, AI, and real-world physical infrastructure," he said.
"This means it's no longer just about token speculation — we're seeing real services emerge that users and businesses are willing to pay for."
While growth has accelerated, Lei acknowledged challenges around cybersecurity, privacy and governance.
"Of course, we're not claiming to have solved every cybersecurity challenge — threats in telecom and IoT will always exist," he said. "But decentralization itself gives us a big advantage: there's no single point of failure that can bring everything down."
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