Southeast Asia’s superapp Grab has partnered with Natix, a project within Solana’s decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN), to cooperate on mapping and autonomous driving technologies.

The joint collaboration aims to combine Natix’s blockchain-based mapping data with Grab’s camera hardware and mapmaking technology featuring artificial intelligence support, Natix said in an announcement on May 6.

“This partnership brings together the best of both worlds,” the announcement noted, pointing to Grab’s expertise in crowdsourced mapping and Natix’s unique DePIN model that rewards users for providing decentralized data input.

Source: Natix

“By combining GrabMaps’ AI-powered mapping technology with Natix’s decentralized data network, we’re enabling real-time, high-fidelity map updates across the globe,” Grab’s mapping service, GrabMaps, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

360° vehicle imagery for Tesla drivers

As part of the collaboration, Natix will launch VX360, a device built on Grab’s hardware platform that allows Tesla drivers to collect and share 360° vehicle imagery, GrabMaps said in the LinkedIn statement.

“This rich visual data powers fresher maps and provides critical training and validation datasets for autonomous driving and physical AI applications,” it added.

GrabMaps announced a partnership with the Natix Network on LinkedIn. Source: GrabMaps

Apart from Natix, GrabMaps has also collaborated on hyperlocal location map-making tech with partners like Loqate, Bing Maps, Mappls and more, according to its official website.

Driving data incentives for better mapping

According to Natix, traditional centralized mapping methods like Google Street View and TomTom are inefficient, expensive and are often associated with limited coverage and update frequency, requiring firms to invest considerable sums to update maps.

To solve this problem, Natix has built an on-street camera network, which enables crowdsourced models to gather real-time data from users’ devices about road conditions and changes at a “fraction of the cost,” Natix co-founder and CEO Alireza Ghods told Cointelegraph.

“Google has started tapping into this model by asking users to submit road updates, but the data remains proprietary. It is expensive to access and only available in the territories that companies pay for,” he noted, adding:

“A blockchain-based incentivization system provides better results in terms of frequency, participation, and coverage.”

“We’re giving Tesla drivers access and storage for their vehicle’s camera feed — while earning rewards for contributing 360° imagery that will be used for better mapping solutions and to power physical AI,” Natix said in the announcement.

Source: Natix

For the tech to pay attention to map events like accidents and roadwork as well as traffic signs, Natix has also been building AI pipelines for the extraction of data, Ghods said, adding:

“Some are internal efforts, and now we plan to tap into Grab’s AI capabilities as they have cutting-edge technology already built for this need.”

Grab’s growing interest in crypto and blockchain

Grab’s new partnership with Natix is another milestone in the company’s growing number of blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption use cases.

In March 2024, Grab partnered with the payments firm Triple-A to enable its clients to pay for services using five cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) stablecoin.

An excerpt from Circle’s case study on Grab. Source: Circle

Additionally, Grab is significantly backed by the Japanese multinational investment holding company SoftBank, which is known for its bullish stance on cryptocurrency and AI.

The news comes shortly after Grab reported $773 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2025, posting an 18% increase year-over-year.

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Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao expects Bitcoin’s price to top at $500,000 to $1 million during this market cycle.

During an interview with Rug Radio published on May 5, Zhao said that he expects Bitcoin to reach up to one million dollars during this market cycle. He also highlighted the role of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in this rise, saying that the increasing institutionalization of Bitcoin is a good thing for the market:

“There’s the ETFs. There’s this institutionalization of Bitcoin [ … ] it’s a positive in terms of price action, obviously. Our bags are up  —  not the alt‑coins as much, but at least Bitcoin is.”

Zhao explained that the ETFs are “bringing the traditional institution money into crypto” and “most of the money in the US is institutional money.” He said that “Bitcoin is going up because most of the ETFs are Bitcoin-based.”

Changpeng Zhao at Rug Radio. Source; YouTube

Founder of Obchakevich Research Alex Obchakevich told Cointelegraph that “70% [of Bitcoin’s growth] is new institutional capital, the rest is just a redistribution of crypto assets.” He highlighted the role of the ETFs in pushing Bitcoin’s price higher:

”ETFs, especially Bitcoin ETFs, are a key driver of the bullish trend, but with small volatile corrections.”

Related: Binance co-founder CZ proposes Bitcoin, BNB for Kyrgyzstan reserves

Governments are in on it, too

Zhao also highlighted that governments are increasingly buying Bitcoin as well, which “is really good for the price action.” He added:

“It’s also very good validation.“

The remarks follow multiple countries accumulating Bitcoin. In late April, El Salvador, the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, continued acquiring Bitcoin despite the International Monetary Fund’s comments claiming the opposite. In the seven days leading to April 27, the country acquired 7 BTC worth over $650,000 at the time.

The country’s Bitcoin Office data shows that El Salvador currently holds nearly 6,170 BTC worth almost $580 million. The Kingdom of Bhutan is also accumulating Bitcoin. January reports suggested that a new economic hub in the country plans to set up a strategic cryptocurrency reserve comprising major crypto assets, including Bitcoin and Ether (ETH).

Related: ‘To have freedom of money, you have to have freedom of speech’ — CZ

A shift in US policy

The former Binance CEO also noted that the US “has pivoted 180 degrees under a pro-crypto president,” since the election of President Donald Trump. He said:

“They’re smart enough to recognise that buying Bitcoin is a great move, and now other countries will have to follow.”

Talking about retail investors, he said that they “had 15 years to buy.” Consequently, “if they’re late now, that was their choice.”

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While blockchain infrastructure may be ready for institutional use, many legal teams at big firms remain cautious about fully integrating the technology. 

At the Token2049 event in Dubai, DoubleZero Labs founder and former Solana head of strategy Austin Federa told Cointelegraph that today’s high-performance blockchains like Solana are technically capable of supporting large-scale institutional usage. However, lawyers need to catch up. 

“Most blockchains nowadays, especially things like Solana, are fast enough for institutions to use them,” Federa said. “It’s really more about the institutions and the institution’s lawyers getting comfortable with crypto.”

Federa added that institutional lawyers and compliance teams are still addressing regulatory concerns. The executive said this may slow adoption despite the growing regulatory clarity in key markets like the United States. 

DoubleZero Labs founder Austin Federa. Source: Cointelegraph

Institutions are coming; they just move slow

According to Federa, technical infrastructure is no longer a primary barrier for large firms. Tools needed to support enterprise-scale activity on networks like Solana are already in place:

“Especially on networks like Solana and other fast networks, the infrastructure is there today for high amounts of institutional adoption.”

While crypto community members may feel like institutional adoption should be more advanced than it is, Federa said that these organizations are not quick to onboard new technologies.  

“Institutions are coming on board, but they just move really slow,” Federa told Cointelegraph. “People expect these massive institutions to move fast, but that’s just not what they’re good at.”

Until legal departments are fully satisfied with risk controls and compliance structures, Federa said meaningful adoption may unfold gradually. 

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Institutional involvement in crypto infrastructure

Federa highlighted a growing trend of institutional participation in the crypto infrastructure space. He said that bare-metal infrastructure providers and venture capital firms have offered financial support and contributed actual fiber infrastructure to DoubleZero. 

This kind of commitment was almost unthinkable just a few years ago, he said. “Most of those companies two years ago would not have had any interest or thought it was way too legally risky to take something and contribute fiber to it.”

Unlike running a validator node, deploying fiber and infrastructure is a major commitment. Federa said institutional players now allocating serious resources to crypto-native projects reflects a shift in how traditional finance views the sector.

Despite this, he acknowledged that while institutional adoption has grown, the broader crypto product landscape isn’t fully mature. “The products are not quite there yet for the most part,” Federa said.

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