Want to earn crypto rewards for performing navigation quests while on the road? Then you may want to look into DePIN project GEODNET, a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) network that provides high-precision positioning services for things like autonomous vehicles.

In this article, we will cover GEODNET's new car navigation device called "GEO-PULSE", as well as their new groundbreaking partnership with IoTeX to bring verifiability to DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks).

This post will be a continuation of what we wrote about GEODNET back in August.

What Is GEO-PULSE?

Dubbed the "world’s most accurate car navigation device", the GEO-PULSE is the first consumer car navigation device that is 10x more accurate than GPS (down to 10cm). It also offers the opportunity for drivers to participate in token-reward "Quests".

The "Token Quests" mobile app rewards GEO-PULSE drivers with $GEOD tokens for completing navigation tasks that enhance network accuracy by precisely mapping GEODNET RTK coverage. From the GEO-PULSE website:

Driving within GEODNET RTK coverage enables vehicles to achieve lane-level accuracy, even in challenging environments like canopies, bridges, and tunnels.

You can easily install the GEO-PULSE to the dashboard of your car with the included mounting kit.

They are currently selling for $129, and shipments are supposed to begin in January 2025.

In addition to earning $GEOD tokens for performing navigation tasks with GEO-PULSE, those who register an ioID on IoTeX, and verify their daily activities with W3bstream, will also quality to earn $IOTX tokens.

Partnership With IoTeX

GEODNET has announced a collaboration with IoTeX - An EVM-compatible L1 that connects smart devices and real-world data to blockchains. GEODNET will leverage IoTeX's modular DePIN infrastructure in order to verify the identity and data integrity of GEODNET's devices.

As per the IoTeX announcement:

Within a DePIN, devices serve as "workers". Ensuring that these devices can be independently verified as authentic and operating as intended is critical for building trust and driving demand for DePIN networks.

The new GEO-PULSE device will integrate with IoTeX's ioID for on-chain device identity, as well as W3bstream for zero-knowledge proofs (ZK). This integration allows GEO-PULSE devices to be registered on-chain, as well as demonstrate their real-world activity to any stakeholder.

You can find plenty of more technical details in their official announcement.

Tokenomics

As with any crypto project, it's important to consider the long-term viability of their tokenomics. The total supply of $GEOD is 1 billion and there are currently 198,173,857 tokens in circulation. As per the GEODNET docs:

The total supply of GEOD token is 1 billion. Each wallet will adhere to its own unlocking schedule. Mined tokens will be unlocked and distributed to each miner daily. However, allocations to the team, investors, and ecosystem will undergo a multi-year unlocking process.

The $GEOD tokens were originally minted on the Polygon sidechain. However, that doesn't mean they will always remain there. In fact, GEODNET recently leveraged Wormhole to open a bridge to the Solana blockchain.

For now, you can trade $GEOD tokens on a decentralized exchange like Uniswap, using a self-custody wallet such as Metamask.

Caveats

The $GEOD token supply has a greater allocation to insiders and investors compared to $DIMO, for example. Essentially, the GEODNET community will only own 37% of the total supply, and the team/investors will control the rest. This could negatively impact the token price, as well as the project's governance.

We have already discussed how the more decentralized a token supply is, the greater its long-term viability will be. What would happen if the private keys that control these large chunks of the supply were to be lost, or stolen? Also consider that the GEODNET smart contracts are upgradable by the owners, which could affect the tokens.

You should be aware of these central points of failure, which do not exist in more censorship-resistant cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or DASH, for example.

Until next time...

As an increasing amount of capital starts to flow into the crypto market, more eyes will be on innovative DePIN projects like GEODNET, causing more people to participate in order to supplement their income. This could lead to a virtuous growth cycle, so long as the project remains sufficiently decentralized and censorship-resistant.

If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the HIVE blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.

Resources

IoTex Announcement Regarding Collaboration With GEODNET [1]
GEO-PULSE FAQ [2]