- Samsung Next just injected an undisclosed investment into Metablox’s Roam.
- Roam’s goal in its latest investment round is to expand its DePIN platform for wider decentralized WiFi coverage.
The Investment of Samsung Next on Roam DePIN
DePIN or Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks is the next evolution of communication. Recognizing their seismic potential to change the mobile computing game, the subsidiary of Samsung, Samsung Next, just poured investment in Roam based on the latter’s recent announcement.
Metablox operates Roam and it aims to emerge as one of the pillars of decentralized WiFi (DeWi). According to its update on X, it focuses on an open-roaming WiFi network with over 3.5 million access points. It incentivizes users with rewards as they connect.
The total funds invested by Samsung Next is not known to this point but it notably took part in Roam’s strategic financing round last year, which resulted in the accumulation of around $5 million. In addition to this, Samsung’s subsidiary has been an active participant in various projects related to cryptocurrencies, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) during the past few years. Among the noteworthy backing of the electronics giant’s arm included the 2021 hit Axie Infinity, Web3 development platform Alchemy, and the now-defunct non-fungible token (NFT) creator platform Nifty’s.
Roam sees Samsung Next’s involvement as a badge of honor because it signifies the strong potential of its innovative products and services, particularly in the realm of blockchain. The recipient revealed that it will utilize the fund injections to further its goals of democratizing Internet access while expanding its user base.
Other well-known venture firms in the crypto space supporting Roam are Comma3 Ventures and Volt Capital.
DePIN’s Potential in the Future of Mobile Computing
DePIN rests on four decentralized pillars that include cloud storage, wireless networking technology, sensor networks, and energy grids. It merges the aspects of blockchain and IoT to pave the way for enhanced storage, processing, gathering, and dissemination of data across serverless nodes without compromising security, quality, and precision.
To put its theoretical advantages to the test, Acurast and researchers from the Communication Systems Group (CSG) of the University of Zürich (UZH) have collaborated lately to study how the new technology fared against the other established traditional media.
Based on the empirical evidence produced by the group, DePIN often outperformed conventional networks. It even surpassed Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) in its computational capabilities. Its energy use, which has always been the cause of concern by regulators over blockchain projects, also yielded a significantly lower consumption.