"Here's an intriguing opportunity: A startup called SkySafe is selling sensors you can put on your roof to help monitor drone activity. In return, you will get a cut of the revenue it collects from clients like stadiums and government agencies, while also enjoying access to a FlightAware-style display of drones. It's a cool project, but there's a catch: the sensors cost $949, and any payments will be made in a new type of cryptocurrency. Would you go for it?"
"To get a sense of what this is all about, it's helpful to know that SkySafe is one of the newer entrants to a segment of the crypto market called Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks or DePIN. The concept has been around since 2021 and the most famous example is a project called Helium-whose ads have been all over the New York City subway system-which will pay you to be part of its wireless phone network. A mapping initiative called Hivemapper is another example."
"The trouble is the token-based payout systems that underlie the DePIN model. Like other crypto projects, they provide healthy allotments for founders and investors (hey there, Andreessen Horowitz!) that can be dumped on the market before the average network participant gets to collect. In the case of Helium, there is ample evidence that insiders took long, greedy gulps of the token supply at the expense of others. This led to accusations that Helium was shilling over-priced hardware while paying out only a pittance."
SkySafe offers rooftop sensors to monitor drone activity and promises owners a share of revenue from clients like stadiums and government agencies. Sensors cost $949 and payouts will be made in a new cryptocurrency. SkySafe is part of DePIN, a sector that emerged around 2021 with projects like Helium and Hivemapper. Distributed networks can be more robust than centralized ones and broaden ownership of infrastructure. Token-based payout systems often grant large allocations to founders and investors, enabling early sell-offs that can harm ordinary participants. SkySafe has paying customers and an MIT-graduate, former Air Force CEO, suggesting legitimacy amid economic uncertainty.
Read at Fortune Crypto
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