The Convergence of Web2 and DePIN: Salad.com and Golem Network's Strategic Collaboration

The intersection of Web2 and decentralized infrastructure is no longer a theoretical exercise-it's a strategic imperative for enterprises seeking to future-proof their operations. Salad.com and Golem Network's collaboration, announced in early 2026, exemplifies this shift. By integrating Salad's centralized GPU cloud platform with Golem's decentralized compute network, the partnership aims to test whether DePIN can deliver cost efficiency, scalability, and transparency for compute-intensive workloads like AI inference, drug discovery simulations, and 3D rendering. For investors, this collaboration offers a window into the long-term viability of hybrid cloud-decentralized models, a sector poised for explosive growth.

The Market Opportunity: Hybrid Cloud and DePIN's Explosive Trajectory

The hybrid cloud market is already a juggernaut, projected to reach $142.3 billion in 2025 and grow at a 26.3% CAGR through 2034, ultimately hitting $1.16 trillion. This growth is driven by enterprises seeking flexibility, compliance, and cost optimization-particularly in AI and edge computing. Meanwhile, DePIN's market capitalization is expected to surge from $50 billion in 2024 to $3.5 trillion by 2028, fueled by venture and institutional capital inflows and a shift toward revenue-driven infrastructure models. Salad and Golem's partnership sits at the crossroads of these two megatrends, leveraging decentralized infrastructure to address pain points in traditional cloud computing.

Strategic Alignment: Why Salad and Golem?

Salad's CTO has noted that Golem's architecture aligns closely with Salad's operational model, particularly in handling compute-intensive tasks. By mirroring a portion of its commercial activity on Golem's decentralized network, Salad aims to reduce the complexity of centralized payment processors and reward systems while exploring crypto-based transactions. This is critical: Salad's existing cost savings in AI workloads-such as generating 10,000+ images per dollar-demonstrate the potential for performance gains through distributed computing. Golem's decentralized marketplace, which uses the GLM token for transactions, could further streamline these processes by enabling peer-to-peer resource allocation and tokenized rewards.

The partnership also addresses a key challenge for Web2 companies: integrating with Web3 infrastructure without overhauling their entire stack. Golem's CPO emphasized that insights from this collaboration will refine Golem's SDK and improve support for future integrations. For Salad, this means a smoother transition to a hybrid model where decentralized infrastructure complements, rather than replaces, its existing operations.

Financial Viability: Cost Reduction and Revenue Potential

While specific metrics from Salad-Golem's collaboration remain undisclosed, broader industry trends suggest significant upside. Hybrid cloud strategies already enable businesses to optimize costs by balancing on-premises and public cloud resources, reducing overprovisioning and waste. DePIN's decentralized model could amplify these benefits by further lowering infrastructure costs through underutilized hardware. For example, Golem's network allows users to monetize idle computational resources, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem that reduces reliance on centralized providers.

The financial viability of this model hinges on two factors: cost reduction and revenue diversification. Salad's existing cost advantages in AI workloads suggest that decentralized infrastructure could enhance these savings. Meanwhile, Golem's tokenized payment system opens new revenue streams for Salad, such as tokenized rewards for users contributing compute power. This aligns with DePIN's broader shift toward revenue-driven models, where investors prioritize projects with demonstrable traction and enterprise contracts.

Regulatory and Market Risks

Despite the optimism, risks persist. DePIN projects must navigate regulatory uncertainty, though recent developments signal improving clarity-like the SEC's no-action letter for a DePIN project in late 2025. Additionally, managing hybrid environments requires advanced orchestration tools and skilled teams, a challenge for both Salad and Golem. However, the growing demand for data sovereignty and sustainability- driven by ESG goals and client preferences-creates a tailwind for decentralized solutions.

Investment Thesis: A Hybrid Future

For investors, Salad and Golem's collaboration represents more than a technical experiment-it's a test of whether DePIN can scale to enterprise-grade workloads. The partnership's success would validate a hybrid model where decentralized infrastructure complements centralized systems, offering cost efficiency, transparency, and resilience. Given the projected growth of both hybrid cloud and DePIN markets, early movers in this space-like Salad and Golem-are well-positioned to capture significant value.

The key question is not whether hybrid models will dominate, but how quickly they will displace traditional infrastructure. Salad's existing cost advantages and Golem's decentralized execution layer suggest a compelling path forward. For investors, the lesson is clear: the future of computing is hybrid, and those who build bridges between Web2 and DePIN will reap the rewards.