New stars rise in the DePIN field, disrupting the traditional cloud computing market

Recently, a significant announcement has emerged in the DePIN sector. A project named Impossible Cloud has secured strategic investment, with its valuation skyrocketing to $470 million. The investors backing this company have a strong background, having been early investors in a well-known IoT project and a major smartphone manufacturer. So, what is it about Impossible Cloud that allows it to receive such a high valuation recognition? This article will provide a comprehensive analysis of this project, which claims to disrupt traditional cloud services, from both technical and business logic perspectives.

The Dilemma of the Traditional Cloud Computing Market

Currently, the traditional cloud computing market is mainly dominated by three major technology giants, forming a "new centralization" situation. Data, computing, and network resources are concentrated in the hands of a few companies, which directly leads to the following problems:

1. The cost of services continues to rise: Cloud service providers are increasing prices year by year, forcing businesses to accept the ever-increasing cloud costs.
2. Vendor lock-in is becoming increasingly serious: Once a business is deployed on a cloud platform, the migration costs are high, and users can hardly switch service providers easily.
3. Data sovereignty is challenged: Companies' data is actually stored on third-party servers, and privacy and security rely entirely on the platform.

Impossible Cloud's Solution

Impossible Cloud aims to establish a decentralized cloud infrastructure network to help businesses regain data sovereignty, reduce costs, and avoid vendor lock-in. This is precisely the core value proposition of DePIN - to reconstruct traditional physical infrastructure using blockchain technology architecture and token economics, reclaiming control from centralized hegemony.

Specifically, Impossible Cloud has divided traditional integrated cloud services into a three-layer "checks and balances" system.

1. Hardware Layer: Contributed by global hardware providers with enterprise-level hardware devices, rather than ordinary PCs or idle computing power. This enables Impossible Cloud to aggregate a large amount of high-quality computing resources.
2. Service Layer: Service providers build various cloud products on top of hardware resources, emphasizing composability and promoting the emergence of innovative services.
3. Monitoring Layer: Responsible for monitoring and verifying service quality by dedicated nodes, solving the common "malicious verification" problem faced by DePIN projects.

The three layers are coordinated through a specialized protocol, achieving market-based pricing and automatic execution of penalties and rewards, forming a self-regulating ecosystem.

Pragmatic Business Strategy

Unlike many blockchain projects, Impossible Cloud chooses to first establish its business and generate revenue. According to the project team, they already have over 1,000 corporate clients in Europe and the United States, with an annual revenue exceeding $5 million and a growth rate of 2,000%. It is expected that by the end of 2025, the contracted annual recurring revenue will reach $32.7 million.

Impossible Cloud's business strategy focuses on enterprise clients, using storage services as an entry point. This approach targets a client base with strong willingness to pay and stable demand, allowing the project to establish a stable cash flow rather than relying on external funding to sustain operations.

Innovative Token Economic Model

The token economic model of Impossible Cloud is highly aligned with its business logic:

1. Staking Mechanism: Hardware providers must stake tokens to connect to the network, ensuring service quality and preventing malfeasance.
2. Payment medium: Service providers use tokens to purchase resources, creating real demand.
3. Reward Tools: Monitoring nodes and hardware providers receive token rewards for their contributions.

This design makes the token the "blood" of the network rather than a speculative tool, with its value stemming from actual business scale rather than market hype.

Team Background and Investment Support

The Impossible Cloud team has a background in Europe and America, with rich experience:

• The co-founder once created and indirectly listed a gaming company on Nasdaq.
• Core members have extensive experience in gaming and cloud storage, and the Chief Technology Officer holds patents related to storage.
• The project has secured $18 million in financing, with investors spanning both Web3 and traditional sectors.

The latest round of strategic investment is a strong endorsement of the development prospects of Impossible Cloud.

Market Prospects and Significance

According to predictions, the global cloud infrastructure market revenue is expected to grow from approximately $313 billion currently to $837.97 billion by 2034. Impossible Cloud aims to become the "AWS of Web3"; even capturing a small portion of the market would present considerable business opportunities.

Moreover, Impossible Cloud represents the forefront of Web3 technology permeating core IT systems in enterprises. This pragmatic project that integrates the advantages of Web2 and Web3 is paving a more feasible path for the enterprise-level application of blockchain technology.