Deep Pocket: Messari Research Highlights, Part 1

Pocket Network is the bridge between applications and blockchain data, serving thousands of developers with cost-effective, fast, and decentralized nodes, and offering a true Web3 alternative to  centralized solutions. Messari has published detailed research highlighting Pocket’s architecture while exploring the network’s economics and growth. The Deep Pocket series will highlight that research to help you discover more about how Pocket is becoming the de facto connecting piece for blockchain interoperability. In Part 1, we’ll cover the need for a decentralized and global node service with Pocket Network. Make sure to see Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series for more of Messari's insights.

The State of Blockchain Interoperability

Pocket Network is building toward a world where networks are connected based on a Web3 ethos, with an emphasis on resiliency, optimized performance, global reach, and decentralization. The theme of blockchain interoperability is at the core of many discussions in the crypto community, given the need to simplify onboarding experiences and encourage adoption.To this point, centralized solutions for blockchain interoperability (e.g. centralized service providers and concentrated mining pools) have posed security and downtime threats, higher costs, and less efficiency. As a result, application developers are often accepting higher degrees of centralization and lower security, while potentially missing out on lower costs and facing other challenges.Web3 infrastructure providers need to overcome those challenges and offer a superior service at an attractive cost, while building in decentralization as a key feature.

Why are Web3 Solutions like Pocket Network Needed?

Messari highlighted Pocket’s solution as a “full node coordination engine” - the missing link between application developers and a decentralized service for node running, with “censorship-resistant RPC handling services, zero downtime, and no sunk costs.”When someone has a request to fulfill involving a full node, two things can happen: fulfillment via running a local node or using an external node. While owning a local node may sound appealing as it offers full control, it substantially raises the costs and complexity of operations due to potential downtime, maintenance and upkeep, security, and so on.

What is the Solution for Application Developers?

Activities by users in crypto/Web3 applications lead to a request, by API, to a specific full node. For example, whenever a user wants to send funds to another address or even just get a token balance on MetaMask, nodes receive requests. Crypto applications like MetaMask largely rely upon a centralized node service that provides scale and lowers the costs (compared to a local node) to handle all those requests.However, centralized services increase security issues and compromise the decentralization feature of applications by having a fully centralized connector in the middle. One recent example of potential censorship issues was “MetaMask accidentally blocking transactions originating from Venezuela.”

Enter the Web3 Node Infrastructure Provider: Pocket Network

Pocket secures the same high-level performance of centralized solutions, often even outperforming such solutions in speed tests, but without sacrificing the key component of Web3, a distributed profile. Pocket has a global and decentralized full node infrastructure, with over 47,000 nodes (across approximately 30 countries) operating in the network to serve application developers.Since Pocket works as the intermediary between applications and full nodes, it becomes “redundant by design,” offering much higher scalability than its centralized counterparts.With Pocket v1, protocol changes will enable even more scale for participants, provide sustainable rewards for node runners, and ensure more efficiency and quality of service. The new version of Pocket will remain blockchain-agnostic, allowing for exponential growth in supporting new networks while doubling down on the features that make Pocket special.

The Road to 100 Blockchains and 1 Billion Relays per Day

In May 2022, Pocket achieved a major milestone of 1 billion relays serviced in a 24 hour period, a 500 fold increase since March of 2021. By the end of 2022, Pocket aims to support 100+ networks (at the time of writing, Pocket Network supports nearly 50 revenue-generating chains). Rather than being overly reliant on any one chain as a source of relays, these supported chains include seven different ones that are now generating daily relays in the double-digit millions.Ease of developer access via the Pocket Portal has also been a major factor in growing the number of supported chains and daily relays, thanks to developers being able to access network endpoints with a simple, straightforward process and just a few clicks.

Read more about Pocket’s technology and progress in the full article from Messari, and stay tuned for future highlights in our Deep Pocket series.