Traditional cognition often views connecting the real world to the blockchain as a heavy asset task—requiring the deployment of mining machines, hardware gateways, and other specialized equipment. However, with the development of Web3, this landscape is changing: the construction of infrastructure is shifting from heavy nodes to cute and lively "dogs." What does this transformation mean? In short, Web3 is attempting to replace the past model of heavy equipment, low interaction, and rigid participation with lightweight hardware, high-frequency engagement, and emotionally interactive experiences.

Connecting the Real World: Does It Have to Rely on Heavy Assets?

Early blockchain projects generally believed that connecting the real world must rely on dedicated hardware: Bitcoin and Ethereum depend on mining machines, Helium uses hotspots for coverage, DIMO requires onboard devices, and XNET deploys cellular nodes. Although this type of hardware, as nodes, can achieve on-chain data input, the barriers to entry for users are extremely high, involving not only purchase and installation but also long-term maintenance costs.

But is it really impossible to connect the physical world without heavy assets? Recent practices suggest otherwise: with the rise of the "X to Earn" model, some projects have begun to replace expensive equipment with everyday behaviors. For example, StepN allows users to earn token rewards simply by walking or running with a smartphone and a pair of NFT virtual sneakers. At its peak, StepN had over a million monthly active users; although it later cooled down, it proved the strong demand from users to earn rewards through real-world actions. In other words, leveraging people's existing devices and habits (like smartphones and exercise) can also achieve incentive connections from reality to the blockchain.
In fact, even some projects that originally followed a heavy asset route have begun to realize the importance of lowering barriers. For instance, some wireless network projects have abandoned high-cost RF hardware in favor of promoting more easily deployable Wi-Fi hotspots. Therefore, the trend is becoming clearer: whether it can stimulate users to spontaneously participate in their existing lives is becoming a core indicator for the sustainable breakout of Web3 projects.

Current Status of DePIN Projects: Exploring New Paths for Sustained Motivation

In the past two years, the DePIN track has rapidly heated up, giving rise to a number of projects that drive infrastructure construction through token incentives, covering various fields such as wireless communication, travel data, mapping, and energy. These projects have successfully validated the potential of the "decentralization + user contribution" model, quickly attracting a large number of users and nodes in the early stages, providing practical samples for on-chain asset integration.
Taking XNET as an example, this project aims to build a cellular network composed of community nodes and has deployed hundreds of nodes, even collaborating with AT&T for traffic. This B2B infrastructure provides commercial imagination space for future Web3 communication. However, there are also some phenomena worth observing: for ordinary users, the sense of participation and visible returns after node deployment are relatively limited, especially as token rewards gradually become more rational, leading to a decline in the activity of some users. However, this is not an isolated issue for individual projects but a common challenge faced by the entire DePIN model after its early development—how to guide users to establish a sustained sense of identity and motivation to use beyond incentives is becoming the key challenge for the next stage.

Overall, many DePIN projects expose similar issues, namely, hot supply but cold demand. The incentive mechanism initially drove a surge in the number of nodes, but the actual growth of users utilizing these network services lagged behind, resulting in low resource utilization. This mismatch between supply and demand makes subsequent incentives difficult to sustain, and participants' enthusiasm diminishes. In the absence of sustained real demand support, growth driven solely by subsidies is unsustainable; once subsidies decrease, users often lose motivation. This is precisely the dilemma faced by many current DePIN projects: how to encourage users to participate actively and for the long term, rather than just rushing in for early rewards.

CyberCharge: Redefining Infrastructure Participation from "People, Goods, and Scenarios"

In the face of these challenges, CyberCharge has proposed a radically different approach, redefining the "people, goods, and scenarios" logic of Web3. The so-called "people, goods, and scenarios" originally referred to the combination of three elements in the retail field: users, products, and scenarios. In Web3 infrastructure participation, there are also similar three elements: the participants, the value provided (goods), and the usage scenarios (scenarios).

• People: Transitioning from professional players to general users. Previously, participants running nodes were mostly miners or technical players, focusing on computing power, device parameters, and return on investment. CyberCharge shifts the target users to ordinary consumers, resembling a pet owner rather than a miner in a data center. The participation threshold is greatly lowered—users do not need any specialized knowledge; they can contribute simply by using everyday charging devices. In other words, everyone can easily participate, not just geeks and investors.

• Goods: Transitioning from computing power devices to behavioral data and virtual pets. In the traditional model, "goods" refer to the hardware resources or computing power provided by users (such as network coverage, storage space, vehicle data). In CyberCharge, this is replaced by the users' everyday behaviors themselves. Specifically, it refers to the act of charging devices and the virtual pet-raising gameplay that extends from charging. Users provide not cold computing power but real charging behaviors and interaction data, which are recorded as "charging proofs" on-chain after being verified by built-in chips, becoming valuable contributions. At the same time, the form of "goods" becomes warmer: AI dog nodes replace cold devices like routers and mining machines. Nodes are no longer cold metal boxes hanging on walls but virtual pets that need care and companionship.

• Scenarios: Transitioning from professional environments to everyday life scenarios. Traditional node operation scenarios are either in the corners of data centers or on outdoor rooftops, far from users' daily lives. CyberCharge brings the scenarios into everyone's daily life: whether charging a phone at home or charging a laptop at a café, it all becomes a "mining scenario" for participating in the CyberCharge network. Coupled with the AI Doggy virtual space in the mobile app, users can interact with their digital pets while charging. The previously dull infrastructure operation is integrated into gamified and socialized consumption scenarios, greatly enhancing participation frequency and stickiness. Every charging moment becomes an opportunity to interact with Web3.

Ultimately, CyberCharge achieves the transformation of "nodes becoming pets, miners becoming players." The system automatically records user behaviors and generates on-chain certificates, while the health status of the pets affects output rewards. Users need to regularly charge, clean, and maintain their pets; if a pet's "health is zero," they not only lose incentives but also experience emotional loss. In the past, it was about computing power stagnation; now, it's about pet "death." This mechanism transforms technical participation into continuous interaction, making infrastructure operation no longer cold but a warm and responsive daily experience.

Conclusion: The Consumerization Path of Infrastructure

When Web3 meets consumer product thinking, models like CyberCharge that transform heavy equipment into lightweight hardware and low-frequency computing power into high-frequency behaviors are injecting new imagination into decentralized infrastructure. It makes nodes no longer cold hardware but "pets" that can be fed, interacted with, and integrated into daily life, gradually making network construction a part of the general public's life rather than an exclusive domain for geeks.
Looking ahead, we may see more real-world behaviors being structurally integrated onto the blockchain: from electricity usage to fitness activities, from driving to environmental monitoring, any daily behavior could become data input and value source for Web3. To achieve this, the key is not how strong the computing power is, but whether the barriers are low enough and the experience is friendly enough. CyberCharge chooses to start with the most ordinary "charging," using emotional design to make the participation path feel natural and tangible. Of course, whether this model is sustainable remains to be verified. However, it has already shown a direction: connecting the real world does not necessarily rely on mining machines; participating in the on-chain network can also be a relaxed experience of playing with dogs and collecting gems. The next step for Web3 may be hidden in these seemingly mundane little actions.