In this special episode of the DePINed Podcast, recorded on-site at DePIN Day Dubai, host Tom Trowbridge sits down with Juan Benet, inventor of IPFS and founder of Protocol Labs, to discuss how Filecoin is evolving far beyond its original purpose.

Filecoin, Before DePIN Had a Name

Filecoin was a DePIN project before the term even existed — a decentralized storage network with exabytes of capacity and thousands of providers globally. But as Juan explains, the project has entered a new phase: from infrastructure to ecosystem.

Subnets: Specialization at Scale

Not all storage is created equal. Filecoin is leaning into this by supporting a growing ecosystem of subnets — effectively Layer 2 networks tailored to specific types of storage (think high-throughput access vs. deep archive).

Each subnet functions almost like an independent product or startup, optimized for a particular customer type — from developers to scientific institutions. These subnets plug into the Filecoin L1, creating a modular, productized network of services.

Competing with the Cloud — Differently

While centralized clouds spent decades and billions building a suite of specialized storage products, Juan argues that DePIN projects like Filecoin can now target one niche at a time, deliver real value, and grow outward.

The goal is outperforming it where it matters, for the right use case.

Incentives, Capital, and a Native Stablecoin

One of the standout developments: Filecoin has launched a stablecoin backed by FIL, designed to close the loop between crypto-native infrastructure and fiat-denominated enterprise demand.

The logic is simple: enterprises want to pay in stable currency; the network wants to retain value internally. A FIL-backed stablecoin bridges that gap — enabling pricing in USD while keeping the economic activity within the Filecoin ecosystem.

At the same time, capital markets are forming around Filecoin — with lending pools, financing providers, and real-world payment flows increasingly integrated into the network.

What Other DePIN Builders Can Learn

Juan shared a series of sharp insights for founders building in the DePIN space:

• Demand first. Supply is often easier to bootstrap. Solving for real, paying users should be the priority.

• Gate emissions. Don’t flood the market with tokens before you have product-market fit. Consider emissions tied to actual usage or value flow.

• Build where it’s wanted. Some geographies (like India or Dubai) may be more receptive than others. Don’t try to force adoption where it’s not ready.

• Design for economic integration. Real-world business means budgets, contracts, pricing — stablecoins and pricing structures matter.

A Blueprint for DePIN at Scale

Filecoin is no longer “just storage.” It’s becoming a template for what a DePIN-powered infrastructure economy can look like: modular, demand-driven, capital-efficient, and deeply integrated with crypto-native and real-world systems alike.

It’s not just about decentralization for its own sake — it’s about building better products, in smarter ways, with economics that scale.

About DePINed Podcast

DePINed is a podcast exploring the frontier of decentralized physical infrastructure, hosted by Tom Trowbridge, co-founder of Fluence. Each episode features in-depth conversations with founders, builders, and investors who are shaping the future of real-world Web3 networks.

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