Thread by @MTorygreen

@POKTnetwork is a hidden gem 💎

It's a critical piece of #Web3 infrastructure, but 99.9% of people don’t understand it b/c it’s very technical

Below I’ll explain how it works in terms a 5 year old can understand

(and why I expect demand for $POKT to skyrocket)

🧵

🐙

👇

2/

The Pocket Network is a decentralized marketplace for RPC nodes

(I’ll explain what this means in a second)

It's powered by the $POKT token which trades at $0.08 (for a FDV of $98M)

3/

This thread will explain:

• How RPC nodes work and why they’re important

• Why the current system of nodes is a MAJOR problem for #Web3

• How #POKT solves that problem

• What makes $POKT so unique

• Why demand for $POKT token may skyrocket in the next bull market

4/

🔶 What are RPC Nodes?

A #blockchain is little more than a global collection of computers called “nodes”

Each node maintains a copy of the network's shared database

Nodes are responsible for storing data, validating transactions and communicating information

5/

Decentralized applications (#dApps) use a special type of node – called an “RPC node” - to read data on the blockchain and send transactions to the network

This process is called a "remote procedure call," which is where the node gets its name

6/

Because nodes are the ONLY devices that can interact with a blockchain, dApps must either:

• Set up and run their own node

• Connect to nodes provided by third-party services such as Alchemy or Infura

7/

Most people lack the time, patience or technical knowledge to host their own node

As such, the vast majority of #dApps choose to use third-party providers

Even as early as 2019, Infura was handling over 12 billion API requests per day

8/

🔶 Problem

Unfortunately, most node providers are centralized

As such, they are seen by many to be #crypto’s dirty little secret

For instance, many Infura nodes are hosted on cloud servers owned by Amazon

9/

Using services like Infura creates several problems including:

• High Costs: Infura has monopolistic pricing power

• Frequent Outages: They have suffered several major outages

• Potential for Censorship: In Mar 2022, Infura restricted access for users in Venezuela

10/

Even Michael Wuehler, the co-founder of Infura admits:

“If every single dapp in the world is pointed to Infura, and we decided to turn that off, then we could, and the dapps would stop working.”

This defeats the purpose of #Web3!

11/

🔶 Solution

The Pocket Network solves this problem with a decentralized “marketplace” for nodes

Unlike Infura or Alchemy, the network does not own its nodes

Instead, it connects users to a network of independent node providers (called “Service Nodes”)

12/

This provides several benefits such as:

• Reduced Costs: $POKT is up to 10x cheaper than centralized nodes

• Increased Reliability: Its network is redundant, allowing 99.9% uptime

• Censorship Resistance: It is impossible to censor decentralized nodes

13/

🔶 How it works

The $POKT token drives the Pocket Network's marketplace

To use the service, both customers and Service Nodes must stake $POKT as collateral. Once deposited:

1. Users can make a request to the Pocket Network to connect to a blockchain

14/

2. Pocket's software routes these requests and connects users to a random Service Node

3. Service Nodes connect users to the blockchain and relay the appropriate data

(Service Nodes are rotated out every hour and immediately replaced if they crash or go offline)

15/

4. Another set of nodes known as "Validator Nodes" verify that the work performed by the Service Nodes is legitimate.

5. If the transaction is legitimate, it is finalized. If not, the Service Node is penalized and its collateral stake is slashed

16/

Upon completion of the transaction, Pocket debits the payment from the user’s staked collateral and sends:

• 89% to the Service Node

• 1% to the Validator Node

• 10% to the community-owned #PocketDAO

17/

🔶 Market Overview

There are multiple RPC node providers including Infura, Alchemy, QuickNode, Pocket, Ankr, Chainstack and Blockdaemon

These range from being highly centralized (e.g Infura) to highly decentralized (e.g #POKT)

18/

🔶 Competitive Advantage

Using Pocket offers several benefits to Web3 applications:

• Decentralized: Considered by many to be the most decentralized

• Cheap: 10x cheaper than competitors

• Reliable: 99.9% uptime

The network also supports over 50 networks

19/

🔶 Traction

As such, #POKT has achieved significant traction

It hosts nearly 50K nodes across 30 countries and the number of relays has grown over 500% in the past year to 1 billion relays per day

20/

🔶Team

The Pocket Network was founded in 2017 by CEO @o_rourke

It lists 64 employees on LinkedIn including CTO @luyzdeleon, COO @ArtSabintsev, Chief Architect @AlexFirmani and Chief Governance Officer @JackALaing

21/

🔶 Investors

$POKT is backed by an impressive slate of investors including @Maple_block, @borderless_cap, @_rcapital_, @EdenBlockVC, @blockchaincap, @BlockwallCap and @CapitalMonday

22/

🔶 The Big Picture

Pocket is a very important “picks and shovels” provider for the #crypto ecosystem.

In fact, many call it the “TCP/IP for Web3"

But it also may be the key to unlocking a multi-chain future

23/

The crypto ecosystem is highly fragmented

In 18 months we went from one dominant blockchain (Ethereum) to dozens of active networks including BNB, Cardano, Polygon, Polkadot, Avalanche, Solana and Tron

And new networks, like Aptos and Sui, seem to be launching everyday

24/

While some RPC providers, such as Infura, focus only on Ethereum-based chains, POKT connects to nodes from over 50 chains

This creates optionality for dApps, helps them navigate an increasingly complicated landscape and makes $POKT a “one-stop shop” for a multichain world

25/

If you want to learn more about @POKTnetwork, check out these accounts:

@0x_boo
@blackrain_91
@jalde__
@Ming_Chun_Lee
@naticchain
@PoktNews
@POKTValidators
@thepoktopus

I hope you've found this thread helpful.

Follow me @MTorygreen for more fundamental analysis on Web3 protocols.

Like/Retweet the first tweet below if you can: