Cloud computing has experienced significant growth in recent years, with its market capitalization expected to increase fourfold to $2.3 billion by 2032. However, the dominance of a few major players like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud puts companies and retail users at risk of severe disruptions if one of these providers experiences a systemic failure. The outage Meta faced in March 2024, for example, impacted over 600,000 people worldwide.
To address these risks and improve the security, transparency, and cost-effectiveness of data processing, Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePINs) and Decentralized Resource Networks (DeRENs) have emerged as potential solutions. A report by Cointelegraph Research and SwanChain explores the critical issues in the cloud computing market and how DePINs and DeRENs can democratize and enhance it.
The growth of DePINs and DeRENs is driven by the increasing demand for computationally intensive AI models, which are projected to reach a market size of approximately $1.4 trillion by 2029. These decentralized infrastructures can reduce the barriers to entry for AI developers by providing cheaper access to computing power. For instance, Flux offers cloud computing services comparable to Google Cloud but at a fraction of the cost ($5 vs $300). The report delves into the reasons behind this significant cost reduction.
SwanChain plays a pivotal role in the DePIN space by offering a decentralized cloud computing platform that provides computational power, storage, and bandwidth resources. These resources can be utilized for AI applications, smart contracts, and other decentralized services. The platform operates as an AI computing and storage bidding market, where users can request resources that are matched with providers. This approach enables users to render complex 3D animations, for example, without the necessary hardware, reducing both time and costs compared to traditional cloud services. SwanChain claims that running a Chat GPT-like model on its infrastructure network can be 40-50% cheaper than using major market players like AWS.
The report also explores the integration of zero-knowledge (ZK) computing technology in SwanChain’s ecosystem. This decentralized network of hardware providers accepts payments in various tokens across blockchains and offers ZK computing services. Within just two months of its launch, the platform has processed nearly 350,000 ZK computing tasks, demonstrating its ability to provide scalable computing resources for ZK applications.
Additionally, the report provides an overview of the rapid expansion of the DePIN sector and highlights notable projects like Filecoin and Render Token as case studies of how decentralized networks can enhance AI applications.
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