Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePINs) are built on a powerful set of principles: resisting centralized data silos, avoiding single points of failure, decentralizing the ownership of critical infrastructure, and creating a resource-sharing economy that rewards all participants.
These principles form the foundation of promising DePIN projects like Drife, Helium Network, Filecoin, Hivemapper, Theta Network, ICP, Akash, and Render. In this interview with Olayimika Oyebanji, Markus Levin, co-founder of XYO—explores the risks of relying on centralized entities or systems, and highlights the need for a secure, private, and transparent way to share, verify, and store location data.
Markus argues that the dominance of companies like Google and Amazon has led to deeply entrenched data silos—and that a paradigm shift is not only needed, but already underway. Read on!
Markus, thanks for showing up. Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your path to Web3?
Thank you for having me! I’ve spent the past 15+ years building and scaling companies, especially in data-driven industries. I got into Web3 way back in 2013—when I began mining Bitcoin—because it was clear to me that decentralized systems would unlock new economic models and efficiencies—especially in how we use, trust, and monetize data.
How do you see DePINs reshaping industries that rely heavily on centralized data?
DePINs shift the ownership of infrastructure from big corporations to users, enabling them to take charge of their own data. This fundamentally alters the economic landscape to be more egalitarian—suddenly, those who contribute also become stakeholders. For sectors like transportation, cloud storage, or mapping, this can lead to significant cost reductions and enhanced resilience.
What are the biggest risks centralized data silos pose to industries like supply chain or IoT, especially when it comes to location data accuracy and security?
When a single centralized entity controls essential infrastructure, it creates bottlenecks and vulnerabilities. If a centralized location service gets compromised or goes offline, it can completely paralyze supply chains or make IoT systems unreliable. This kind of risk is both operational and financial.
What challenges do you see in convincing companies to move away from centralized data silos when they’re often seen as more convenient despite their vulnerabilities?
The two biggest obstacles are cost and habit. Centralized platforms may provide short-term convenience, but decentralization offers long-term stability and a better alignment of incentives. The real challenge is helping companies look beyond their quarterly budgets to see the structural efficiencies that decentralization can bring.
I strongly believe that decentralized systems should not require a complete overhaul of existing infrastructure. XYO is designed to integrate with both Web2 and Web3 environments, and we aim to make the perks of blockchain accessible, allowing companies to gradually adopt decentralized infrastructure without sacrificing immediate operability. Aligning economic incentives with data integrity, makes the shift both practical and financially appealing.
How vulnerable are centralized location systems to single points of failure, like hacks or outages, and what could the fallout look like for businesses or consumers?
They are extremely vulnerable. For example, a GPS outage—even if short—can disrupt logistics, navigation, or even financial services that rely on timestamp accuracy. The financial cost of a failure grows exponentially with scale, and everyone is impacted. Decentralized models that distribute trust across thousands of independent nodes mean there's no single point of failure.
This allows each piece of location data to be verified through cryptographic proofs and cross-referenced by the network, making it virtually impossible to spoof, tamper with, or lose.
What inspired the creation of XYO?
Originally, we noticed that location data had a high rate of spoofing problems. It was too easy for companies to lose track of authentic data amidst spoofed and unreliable data points in their systems. We created XYO to bring cryptographic proof into the mix, making location data verifiable.
Today, XYO can verify any kind of real-world data. Our network is built to secure and validate information across a variety of applications, not just those related to geography. We have over eight million nodes around the world and anyone can join the network with a smartphone. We’re growing and we’re collaborating with several major partners to leverage and share that data.
How does XYO’s decentralized oracle network ensure the accuracy and security of geospatial data compared to traditional centralized systems?
Our network is powered by independent nodes that verify location data through consensus rather than blind trust. With this infrastructure, XYO eliminates the reliance on a single source of data, making it much tougher to spoof or manipulate the system. Our nodes operate independently and the ecosystem is designed to encourage honest participation.
With the addition of cryptography, it means it’s much easier to highlight inconsistencies and locate false data. This multi-layered verification process adds a level of redundancy and resilience that centralized systems simply can’t match.
It also means that data is constantly being validated, which is crucial for applications where accuracy and integrity are non-negotiable—like autonomous systems or financial services. This is also a game-changer for AI systems, which often struggle with inaccuracies and need better data to deliver more reliable results.
What are the biggest technical hurdles XYO has faced in scaling its blockchain-based location verification system?
The main challenges have been scalability, cost-efficiency, and interoperability. We needed to create systems that could operate at the edge, manage large amounts of data, and still be light enough for real-world devices. This specific issue is what caused us to begin development on XYO Layer One, our own Layer One blockchain.
With our own L1 blockchain, we’re using new technologies to make the chain itself lightweight as it grows. Most blockchains today increase in size as they are built, and it can slow down the chain significantly over time. Ours is optimized for high-throughput, low-cost transactions without compromising on decentralization. It’s built to handle real-time data inputs at scale—something that most general-purpose blockchains just aren’t equipped to do. This foundation will enable it to adapt to the needs of real-world applications as they evolve.
Can you take us through the incentive system of XYO as a DePIN project?
The easiest way for people to get involved in XYO’s incentive system is through our mobile app, COIN. It’s free, and lets anyone participate in the network by validating and collecting real-world data. In exchange, they earn “COIN”, which can be redeemed for our tokens and other perks—though over 95% of redeems are for our token. Having a mobile app with blockchain abstraction has helped us grow to millions of participants and build one of the largest decentralized datasets in the industry. Most of the people joining us are not well-versed in crypto, and for some, it’s the first time they’ve ever interacted with blockchain.
Looking ahead, we’re rolling out a new dual-token system for the upcoming mainnet launch of our XYO Layer One Blockchain. The new token, XL1, is designed to ensure long-term network health and scalability. In this two-token system, XYO will be used for staking, securing the network and other features outside of the XYO Layer One blockchain, while a second token, XL1, will handle internal blockchain operations like gas fees and smart contract execution.
Can you share your experience as a DePIN builder and co-founder of XYO?
It’s been quite a journey, filled with technical challenges and regulatory hurdles, but we’ve made significant strides. DePIN is still new in blockchain, but with the growing excitement and strength behind new DePIN projects every day, the advantages over fragile centralized systems are clear.
Any final thoughts?
Decentralized infrastructure represents a significant shift in terms of both technology and economics. The next ten years will be defined by systems that incentivize participation rather than just passive usage. At XYO, we’re dedicated to building infrastructure that stands the test of time—something robust, economically viable, and scalable.
We’re not interested in chasing trends; we’re focused on addressing real issues in how data is verified, shared, and valued. The technology may be intricate, but our mission is straightforward: to find new ways to address long-standing problems, through secure and transparent data-based systems.
