Hey @dragonawr, thanks for your SOS submission.
When I wrote mine, I was mainly focused on DeFi and distribution. But the more I think about DePIN as another potential vertical, the more I like it.
As your first objective says, one approach is to identify and support existing DePIN projects. One example that you mention is Huddle01, which our DAO recently decided to start using (thanks to efforts by @paulofonseca).
Reading this, the idea that came to mind for promoting these kinds of DePIN projects is through an engagement incentive program - like the one I included in my SOS as Objective 2.2.
Your second and third objectives focus on building DePIN infrastructure that’s not present on Arbitrum yet.
DePIN projects often need their own specialised chain with high throughput, which is a perfect use case for Orbit chains.
This kind of development could be supported through grant programs, as well as more targeted and specific Requests for Proposals/Offers (RFP/RFO).
Although the Orbit chains category (run by @maxlomu) in the current D.A.O. grants season doesn’t fund launching new Orbit chains, perhaps these projects could get funding through the New Protocols and Ideas category, or by reaching out to the @Arbitrum Foundation, which I believe works most closely with new Orbit chain projects.
Personally, I would love to see the following DePIN infra projects as L3 chains on top of Arbitrum One:
- A social DePIN layer (for storing social data & messages), which would allow anyone to build an encrypted chat app or social network on top of it. A similar project (Snapchain) is being built in the Optimism Superchain ecosystem by Farcaster.
- DePIN AI infrastructure: there are already a few such projects being built on Arbitrum, for example CapX was mentioned in a recent blog post by @CastleCapital.
- Mesh networking: decentralized wifi or mobile networks.
I’d love to hear from you (or anyone else) about some other DePIN ideas that could be built in the Arbitrum ecosystem.