Recently, a summit focusing on the integration of cutting-edge technology—the AI+DePIN Summit—was successfully held in Hanoi, Vietnam. This summit was jointly organized by innovative projects in the Web3 field, including DPIN, QPIN, and 42DAO, gathering numerous Web3 industry leaders, technical experts, and community members. The summit took place on April 19, 2025, and its core topics revolved around the potential of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), real-world assets (RWA), and the profound transformations brought about by their intersection with artificial intelligence (AI). Through a series of insightful keynote speeches and in-depth roundtable discussions, participants collectively explored how these technologies are reshaping industry patterns and particularly focused on the vast development opportunities they hold in the vibrant Southeast Asia region.
DePIN and RWA: The Evolutionary Force of Infrastructure and Asset Paradigms
At the beginning of the summit, Daniel Schwartz, the Chief Operating Officer of the DPIN Foundation, delivered the opening speech, systematically elaborating on the core concept of DePIN. He pointed out that DePIN aims to build and maintain a network of physical infrastructure owned and operated by the community by leveraging blockchain technology and token incentive mechanisms, effectively avoiding the single point of failure risk inherent in traditional centralized models, significantly enhancing operational transparency, and more equitably returning network value to community members who contribute. Daniel cited projects such as Helium (decentralized wireless networks), Filecoin (decentralized storage networks), and Energy Web (a decentralized network focused on renewable energy) that have made significant progress, vividly demonstrating the practical application potential and feasibility of DePIN in various fields.
Next, Daniel turned his attention to the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). He explained that converting tangible or intangible assets such as real estate, precious metals (like gold), artworks, and carbon credits into digital tokens through blockchain technology is expected to break many barriers in traditional asset markets. RWA tokenization can greatly enhance asset liquidity, allowing previously hard-to-divide or trade assets to be fragmented for trading; at the same time, based on the immutable and transparent characteristics of blockchain, ownership records and transaction histories can be publicly verified, enhancing market trust; furthermore, it can lower investment thresholds, giving a broader range of investors the opportunity to access and invest in high-value assets.
When discussing the intrinsic connection between DePIN and RWA, Daniel emphasized the potential synergy between the two. He explained that the DePIN network can provide the necessary infrastructure support for the tokenization and management of RWA, such as verifying the physical state or environmental data of assets through decentralized sensor networks, or ensuring the security of relevant legal documents and ownership records through decentralized storage. Conversely, the successful tokenization of RWA and the economic activities it generates may also attract more participants and potential funding support for the development of the DePIN network, forming a mutually reinforcing virtuous cycle.
Furthermore, when discussing the specific vision and long-term impact of the DPIN project, Daniel emphasized how the decentralized GPU computing network that DPIN is committed to building will bring positive changes to the global AI ecosystem. He pointed out that the goal of DPIN is:
Popularizing the right to use computing resources: By lowering the barriers to high-performance computing, more developers, researchers, and small to medium-sized enterprises can afford and utilize powerful GPU computing for AI model training and inference.
Improving cost-effectiveness: Compared to traditional centralized cloud service providers, DPIN aims to provide users with more competitive prices by optimizing resource scheduling and utilizing distributed idle computing power.
Enhancing data security and privacy protection: The decentralized architecture inherently possesses stronger censorship resistance and data sovereignty features, and DPIN is committed to building a more secure data processing environment based on this.
Providing dynamic scalability: In the face of increasingly growing and volatile computing demands for AI models, DPIN's distributed network is expected to provide more flexible and resilient computing expansion capabilities to meet the future needs of AI development.
The Intersection of Exponential Growth in AI Computing Demand and Decentralized Solutions
Following this, Pekka Kelkka, the Chief Strategy Officer of DPIN and Chief Business Officer of QPIN, delivered a keynote speech, deeply analyzing the explosive growth in computing power demand in the current AI field. He cited data indicating that the growth rate of AI computing demand is exponential, and its iteration speed has far exceeded the traditional hardware performance improvement trajectory described by Moore's Law. Pekka emphasized that the training of large language models (such as DeepSeek, which is dedicated to exploring general artificial intelligence), the massive data processing and real-time decision-making required for autonomous driving technology, and the construction of immersive metaverse experiences are key factors driving this surge in demand.
Faced with such a huge computing power gap, Pekka pointed out that the key to meeting these demands lies in innovative solutions, and the technology of QPIN constitutes the core driving force of the DPIN plan. He elaborated on the crucial role that QPIN plays in commercialization and core technology provision, emphasizing that QPIN is committed to creating a global, efficient decentralized GPU computing platform. This platform is not only the foundation for DPIN to build its global GPU network but also the key engine for efficiently running AI applications (such as complex models like DeepSeek) in a decentralized environment. By utilizing the QPIN platform, DPIN aims to significantly reduce the hardware investment and operational costs required for AI research and development, accelerate the training cycle of AI models through optimized large-scale data processing capabilities and low-latency computing features, and ultimately achieve global, distributed, and efficient utilization of computing resources. Pekka made it clear that the grand blueprint of the DPIN Foundation highly relies on the technological strength and continuous innovation of the QPIN platform to jointly construct a decentralized GPU network that enables high-performance computing technology to benefit global developers and users.
Roundtable Insights: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Future Path of Southeast Asia
The roundtable discussion session of the summit gathered multiple viewpoints to explore the development prospects of DePIN, RWA, and AI in the Southeast Asia region in depth:
Daniel Schwartz further elaborated on the potential advantages of DePIN in AI application scenarios compared to traditional data centers. He mentioned that through precise distributed architecture design and intelligent task scheduling algorithms, the DePIN network is expected to achieve higher energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint during the computing process. Meanwhile, by effectively integrating and utilizing existing global hardware resources that may be idle and reducing the construction and maintenance costs of large-scale centralized infrastructure, DePIN is committed to achieving significant cost-effectiveness. Looking ahead, Daniel reiterated DPIN's long-term goals: to promote the popularization of AI applications, reduce innovation costs, enhance data processing security and privacy protection levels, provide flexible and scalable computing power that meets future demands, and ultimately stimulate a wave of technological innovation globally.
Ted Nguyen, a senior advisor in the fields of RWA and NFTs, shared his deep insights into the Vietnamese and broader Southeast Asian markets. He candidly pointed out the challenges faced in developing DePIN and RWA in the region, such as the need for improved digital infrastructure in some areas and how to effectively respond to and adapt to the rapidly evolving regulatory environment in the face of advancing technology. However, Ted emphasized the enormous opportunities in the region: the rapidly advancing digital transformation process provides broad application scenarios for new technologies; the growing local talent pool provides intellectual support for innovation; relatively low operating costs attract global attention; the active startup ecosystem is vibrant; and the generally open and embracing attitude of society and government towards emerging technologies like blockchain. These factors collectively constitute favorable conditions for Southeast Asia to become a fertile ground for the development of DePIN and RWA.
Pekka Kelkka detailed DPIN's localization cooperation strategy in Vietnam and its surrounding areas. He revealed that DPIN plans to establish joint research projects with top local universities to explore cutting-edge technologies related to DePIN and AI; actively support local promising startups by providing resources, computing power support, and technical guidance; and deploy edge computing nodes in selected tech parks to create "Living Labs" for real application testing environments, allowing verification and optimization of technical solutions in real-world scenarios. Furthermore, Pekka shared the latest progress of the DPIN GPU computing testing center located in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, which is scheduled to begin trial operations in the third quarter of 2025. He emphasized that this testing center is not only intended to provide strong computing support for AI and cloud gaming research and development at QPIN labs but also to serve as an important demonstration node and regional hub for DPIN's global network expansion. Pekka further explained how QPIN's technology will continue to drive the optimization of decentralized computing power costs and the improvement of computing performance, providing fertile ground for various application innovations and illustrating the importance of high-performance computing for the cutting-edge AI development through projects like DeepSeek that pursue extreme efficiency.
Jimmy Nguyễn, a well-known representative of the Web3 and cryptocurrency community in Vietnam, explored the differences in AI computing demand from a regional perspective. He observed that while developed economies are currently the main drivers of AI computing demand growth, emerging markets, particularly Southeast Asia, are showing enormous growth potential. He believes that decentralized platforms like DPIN, by providing more accessible and cost-effective computing resources, are expected to help bridge the technological gap between different regions and promote a more balanced and inclusive global technological development.
Building the Future Together from the Present
The successful holding of the Hanoi AI+DePIN Summit not only showcased the determination and progress of DPIN, QPIN, and partners in promoting the development of decentralized technology but also clearly reflected the significant trend that the current global market is undergoing a transition towards more open, efficient, and equitable decentralized systems. Through the construction of key infrastructures like the Johor Bahru GPU computing testing center and the active expansion of strategic partnerships, DPIN and its core technology partner QPIN are actively building a robust foundational base to support the vigorous development of the next generation of artificial intelligence and distributed applications. The event concluded with a general optimistic expectation among participants about the critical role that Vietnam and the entire Southeast Asia region will play in this technological revolution. DPIN and its ecological partners will continue to move forward together, committed to turning the blueprint for decentralized AI infrastructure into reality.
