Would you hand over the keys to your house to a stranger, allowing them free rein over your belongings? If this stranger then created counterfeit versions of your custom jewelry to sell, loaned out your clothes, and pawned your TV for cash, would you still claim ownership of those items? Of course not – they've been misappropriated and taken from you.

So why do we ignore the fact that centralized cloud services like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and AWS are the primary data custodians for decentralized blockchain projects? By doing so, we're effectively handing over the keys to our digital houses while denying that we're doing so.

With Gartner analysts predicting that 85% of organizations will adopt a cloud-first strategy by 2025, blockchain needs to advance. This starts by recognizing that the narrative of self-custody in decentralization is flawed as long as there's reliance on centralized systems. True data ownership remains an unfulfilled promise, confined to theoretical whitepapers.

Concerns about this discrepancy have become more vocal over time. Since Google Cloud began storing Bitcoin data in 2018, more than 20 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Litecoin, Polygon, and Avalanche, have utilized these services for data exploration. As this reliance grows, so do the concerns, yet no substantial action has been taken.

The limitations of blockchain – scalability, cost efficiency, and latency – have hindered its ability to provide practical large-scale data storage solutions. Thus, centralized alternatives have filled the void, contradicting the decentralized ethos.

Developing decentralized storage solutions is technically challenging. It involves overcoming obstacles like ensuring data redundancy, incentivizing storage space providers, and maintaining data integrity. Building the required infrastructure demands significant investment in hardware, software, and protocols.

Despite these challenges, it is crucial to break the dependence between blockchain and cloud storage. If not addressed, the issues of Web2 – data breaches, manipulation, corruption, censorship, and unplanned downtime – will persist in Web3. Decentralization will fail, and blockchain adoption will stall.

For blockchain to transform security, ownership, censorship resistance, and information distribution, a decentralized storage solution is essential. Fully decentralized storage would empower users to reclaim and build a more open, trustworthy digital infrastructure.

Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) offers a solution. Global networks of DePIN data centers could address this issue, supporting interoperability, data consistency, incentive mechanisms, and community governance.

By building on existing Web2 infrastructure, a network of distributed node validators could enhance data redundancy, integrity, and security. This would require significant technical and financial efforts, but collaboration between Web3 entities and governmental institutions could drive rapid progress.

A robust solution would revolutionize data storage, enabling full decentralization where users have autonomy over privacy and monetization. Embracing Web3 values and building on Web2 foundations, a DePIN network could pave the way for a resilient, inclusive digital future.

Reconstructing data storage, access, and management will have far-reaching impacts, reshaping how power, wealth, and control are distributed.