Bitrue Project Highlight Series #3 — Pocket Network POKT

Bitrue
4 min readJun 29, 2022

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Dear Bitruers,

As you can see, as we have been busy bringing more layer 1 & 2 blockchain integrations onto our platform, we are very excited to announce that a layer 0 will also be coming to our collection soon! This project is called Pocket Network, it proposes a solution for an important challenge that the blockchain industry is yet to overcome fully: infrastructure decentralization. We would love to have their native token, POKT, be made available for all of you Bitruers to trade and invest!

Before that, let’s quickly go through what Pocket Network proposes to our community:

What does Pocket Network do?

Pocket Network aims to decentralize information routing in blockchain transactions. It aspires to take decentralization in the ecosystem one step further, by making sure node providers are also decentralized. Node providers are key components of blockchains, as it has the power to reject or accept a transaction’s validity.

In the past, because running your own nodes is a laborious and time-consuming task, developers would rather focus on their product’s features instead of worrying too much about the backend, most dApps prefer using centralized node providers SaaS (software as a service) such as Infrura and Alchemy. However, this goes against the ideology that web3 is built upon, which is decentralization.

Enter Pocket, the protocol that positions itself as the TCP/IP of Web3. Pocket is a multi-chain information relay protocol that incentivizes RPC (Remote Procedure Call) nodes to provide DApps and their users with wide access to web3, it is an open-source API protocol to connect developers to various blockchain node operators.The protocol consists of mainly two mechanisms,the first mechanism involves Pocket’s relay network to coordinate with dApps randomly across a set of nodes in the network, and the second mechanism is the full node incentivization scheme for blockchain via POKT Tokenomics.

According to the official source, Pocket Network is composed of 3 components which are Applications, Nodes and the Network Layer. An Application submits Relays, or API requests meant to be routed to any public database node. Nodes service these Relays, by submitting them to the public databases they are meant for, and then sending the response back to the Application, if there is any. The Network Layer comprises the protocols that determine how the Applications and Nodes interact with each other, including, but not limited to configuration, record tracking, governance and economic policy.

Pocket Network is not tied to any blockchains, it is a layer 0 protocol instead of layer 1. At present, Pocket Network services 15 blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Harmony, BSC, Polygon, Algorand, Fuse, Gnosis Chain, Polygon, Iotex, OKX, boba, Fantom, and Evmos.

Decentralized infrastructures are very important as it lays the foundation for mass transition from web2 to web3. We believe that solid infrastructure projects will need to be developed before other applications can be built on top of it.

Who is behind this project?

Michael P.O Rourke is the co-founder and CEO of Pocket Network, he has 8 years of experience as a developer, mostly focused on iOS mobile software. He is a self-taught blockchain developer, member of Tampa Bay Blockchain Developers Association.

Pocket Network has recently launched its partnership with one of the biggest builders in decentralized node infrastructure, Ankr protocol. Pocket will be one of the biggest node providers for requests coming from Ankr protocol. While Ankr itself is a distributed node provider, it is becoming increasingly decentralized with the help of protocols like Pocket Network.

Pocket Network has amassed over US$20.2 million in funding from top crypto venture capitalists including Chainflow, Coder, SimplyVC, Rivet, Tuku, Chainstack, Skillz, Blockspaces, 020 validators, Easy Stake.

What about POKT’s tokenomics?

POKT is the currency that powers the Pocket Network, its mechanism is unique, as it is not a transactional token by nature. POKT will be used for a simple fee mechanism between the Applications (developers) and Nodes (service nodes). Whenever a service node completes relay requests, they will receive newly minted POKT via the block reward inflation mechanism, while the applications, the demand side will be burning the tokens. This token economics for POKT is designed so that transfer of value is easier, and will not incur additional costs.

The monetary policy in Pocket Network is divided into two phases: Growth and Maturity. During the Growth Phase, applications stake just once to access the protocol, this will attract more developers as transaction fees are low, developers are only paying through their initial stake and inflation. At network maturity (the Maturity Phase), Pocket will become a simple fee market with the demand side (Applications) stakes are burned in proportion to the amount of POKT minted by the supply side. POKT tokenomics is designed to attract long-term participants and diminish unproductive speculation. This is why it is designed to be inflationary at the growth phase. Also, governance is not based on token ownership, but rather merit based vote claim.

So, what do you all think of Pocket? Is it a project worth watching for?

Tell us what you think!

Regards,

The Bitrue Team

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Bitrue

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