May 17, 2022
By Murtuza Merchant
Pocket Network, a relay infrastructure middleware protocol, has added support for NEAR, a developer-friendly, proof-of-stake public blockchain.
Adding support for NEAR within the Pocket Network improves the experience for developers, allowing them to deploy applications on any and every blockchain network supported by Pocket Network, without concern over single points of failure that are prone to bring down service.
Supports 46 blockchains
Pocket Network boasts a globally distributed network of more than 47,000 full nodes that service Web3 applications across 46 blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Fuse, Avalanche, and Harmony.
Adding support for NEAR takes Pocket Network’s mission a step further by not only providing abundant bandwidth for the NEAR blockchain network, but also turning on revenue generation.
This gives NEAR and Pocket Network node runners an opportunity to earn $POKT for servicing traffic from applications, tools, services, and protocols.
Michael O’Rourke, Co-Founder and CEO of Pocket Network said, “Supporting NEAR, the fastest-growing non-EVM L1, is a testament to Pocket’s chain-agnostic mission to support 100 blockchain networks by the end of the year. Pocket goes where the developers and users go, and they are going to NEAR in droves.”
“Supporting NEAR within Pocket Network provides a more resilient, reliable, and censorship-resistant RPC service for developers to leverage, creates an extra stream of revenue in the form of $POKT incentives for full-node operators, and makes the NEAR blockchain network more robust. It’s a win-win-win scenario for NEAR apps, NEAR nodes, and the Pocket Network protocol,” he added.
Reduces friction of connecting dapps to NEAR
Pocket Network allocates NEAR network bandwidth and relays NEAR traffic autonomously through its protocol.
As a result, Pocket Network reduces the friction of connecting dapps to NEAR via a simple three-click process for developers to mint RPC endpoints through the Pocket Portal, a layer-2 product on top of the Pocket Network protocol.
Exponential organic growth
NEAR has seen exponential organic growth, demonstrating accelerated interest in the NEAR ecosystem, particularly in comparison to other non-EVM ecosystems. The more NEAR full nodes there are in the network, the more robust and resilient the NEAR blockchain becomes.
This growth also means more developer activity and therefore more relays for node runners to serve and earn $POKT.
Cameron Dennis, Head of Ecosystems at NEAR Foundation, said Web3 is about the choice to exit centralized systems. “That’s why I’m thrilled NEAR developers will now have the opportunity to choose between Pocket Network’s decentralized network of RPC endpoints and other centralized solutions.”
NEAR apps have low latency, 100% uptime
On the app side of the marketplace, NEAR applications are able to leverage the benefits that naturally emerge with a decentralized RPC protocol, such as 100% uptime, low latency, and no monthly SaaS fees.
Dapp developers can mint up to two NEAR endpoints per Pocket Portal account, with each endpoint providing up to 1M requests per day. This is done directly via the Portal.
About the author
Murtuza Merchant is a senior journalist specializing in blockchain and cryptos.
