In the rapid development of cryptocurrency, POKT Network (Pocket Network), as an important open protocol, is facing new challenges and opportunities. In early August 2023, POKT Network's core protocol team made a key decision: to suspend all development work on the upcoming POKT Protocol upgrade-Shannon upgrade (formerly known as v1). Behind this decision lies deeper considerations and future vision.
meaning of pause
The pause was not a random one, but an in-depth research sprint that lasted three weeks. The team conducted a lot of open exploration during this period and held 1 to 2 hours of research synchronization meetings every day. In addition to day-to-day discussions, the team held three days of face-to-face meetings, delved into at least nine projects that particularly caught our attention, communicated with the core teams on these projects, gathered input from industry experts, and developed Several proofs of concept (POCs).
Ultimately, the results of our research led to an important decision: the Shannon upgrade would be a micro-rolling upgrade, using Rollkit's modular framework, with Celestia as the data availability (DA) layer. This innovation will pave the way for the future of POKT Network.
POKT Network’s History and Mission
So, what is POKT Network? POKT Network is an open protocol that provides developers with reliable, efficient and cost-effective RPC access to the open Internet. It is the decentralized counterpart to your favorite centralized node provider, designed to solve the RPC trilemma.
Most centralized “node-as-a-service” providers excel at providing efficient and cost-effective solutions, but they lack reliable multi-tenant decentralization, which can only be achieved through token-based incentives.
POKT Network’s native cryptocurrency, POKT, facilitates access to a wide range of providers supporting over 42 blockchain RPC endpoints. POKT incentivizes full nodes (non-validators) to exist, pessimistically verify state transitions, replicate data, and make it available to developers. This is similar to a universal API token granting access to diverse RPC services from multiple providers.
The core utility of POKT
Questions we often receive are related to POKT’s token economics or strategies for ensuring high quality of service (QoS). Here’s a quick overview of our core capabilities:
Reliability: The RPC access provided by POKT Network is decentralized, which means developers can rely on a diverse network of nodes without worrying about a single point of failure.
Performance: By incentivizing the existence of full nodes, POKT Network can provide fast and efficient data access to meet the needs of developers.
Cost-effectiveness: Compared with traditional centralized solutions, POKT Network reduces developers’ costs through a token incentive mechanism.
Scalability: As blockchain technology continues to develop, POKT Network can flexibly adapt to new needs and provide continuous services.
Facing future challenges
During the decision-making process for this upgrade, we also explored some current hot topics, including data availability and various proof methods. While these topics guide our direction, it is important to emphasize that our decisions are primarily based on mid-term product needs in order to focus on creating the most powerful decentralized RPC protocol possible.
In this rapidly changing industry, the future of POKT Network is full of potential and challenges. With the advancement of Shannon upgrade, POKT Network will not only improve its technical capabilities, but also provide developers with more powerful and flexible tools to help them stand out in the ever-changing market.
in conclusion
The journey of POKT Network has just begun, and the pause is not the end, but a better way forward. With the implementation of Shannon upgrade, POKT Network will set a new benchmark in the field of decentralized RPC access. Future development will not only be about technological improvements, but also about a deep understanding and response to developers’ needs.
We look forward to POKT Network continuing to lead the industry trend in the days to come, creating more value for developers, and ultimately realizing the beautiful vision of a decentralized network.