- About one-third of the global population lacks access to the World Wide Web
- The first Wicrypt WiFi hotspots are live on krest, peaq’s sister blockchain
Wicrypt Network, a decentralized mobile Internet sharing and monetization network, announced an expansion of its integration with peaq, the go-to blockchain for real-world applications. The first Wicrypt WiFi hotspots are already live on krest, peaq’s sister blockchain, outfitted with their unique peaq IDs.
The new version of the Wicrypt operating system makes the devices compatible with peaq off-the-shelf, making it easier for people purchasing them to connect them with the network.
A third of the world lacks internet access
Unequal access to the internet, also known simply as the digital divide, still looms large over the world, with some 2.7 billion people — about one-third of the global population — lacking access to the World Wide Web. Asia and Africa, the world’s two most populous continents, are also the most affected, with their respective internet penetration standing at 61% and 40%.
Making the web more accessible
Wicrypt, an innovative startup from Nigeria, is working to make the Web more accessible globally through its decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) of WiFi hotspots. The hotspots enable people and businesses to share their Web connection with others, thus solving the last-mile delivery challenge, and earn tokens based on their usage stats.
Currently, Wicrypt’s DePIN counts more than 1,100 hotspots and stretches across 30+ countries, with some 45,000 accounts using more than 895TB of data.
Wicrypt has now connected several hotspots with krest, peaq’s sister chain for testing dApps and DePINs, which went live in June. The hotspots now have their unique peaq IDs, which enable them to interact with the network, and can be found on Subscan, the blockchain explorer compatible with krest.
Ugochukwu Aronu, the CEO of Wicrypt, said:
We are thrilled to be moving ahead with this integration and bringing the first hotspots live on krest. As a production-grade network, krest gives us a perfect testing environment for everything we build on peaq, and in the longer term, it will boost the rewards users earn on our DePIN ecosystem. It’s the perfect incentivization mechanism to power connecting the disconnected.
Till Wendler, co-founder of peaq, added:
The digital divide is the plague of today’s world. It’s exciting to see krest work as a testing ground for a project working to cure it. The launch of Wicrypt hotspots on krest is just the beginning as this DePIN takes on the global crisis with top-notch Web3 tools and a desire to make the world a better place.
