Pocket Network, the decentralized infrastructure protocol for open-source data, has launched the Shannon upgrade to unlock its next growth phase. The protocol upgrade enables Pocket to expand its permissionless services from pure RPC to decentralized open data accessibility for AI training and cross-chain DApps.
An Open Data Layer for Next-Gen Apps
The Shannon upgrade is named after Claude Shannon, one of the information age’s founding fathers and an early AI proponent. Post-Shannon, Pocket has become a truly open data platform without any centralized control, where anyone can provide or access data.
Shannon’s mainnet launch is a significant technical achievement in Pocket’s roadmap. It has successfully migrated Pocket from a regular RPC provider into a real sharing economy for open data among app developers. Besides reducing downtime, Pocket empowers builders to access open datasets without relying on a single centralized data provider.
As the first Open API network, Shannon makes Pocket Network the primary layer for open data markets. The upgrade involves protocol-level payments, attractive protocol incentives for network participants, and open permissionless protocol-level coordination without requiring centralized gateways.
Shannon also equips Pocket Network with transparent and automatic quality scoring for nodes and data to maintain network integrity. It further provides accelerated support for AI apps, blockchain data, and other public data sources.
As AI rapidly shapes software and hardware development, many AI systems depend on centralized APIs and vulnerable infrastructure. At this crucial juncture, the Shannon upgrade facilitates decentralized, reliable, and censorship-resistant open data accessibility for Pocket Network participants.
New Tokenomics to Fuel Web3 Infra
With Shannon, the Pocket Foundation is scaling up to meet operational demands and expand the support system for ecosystem builders. To this end, the Foundation is strengthening its governance model through transparent reporting and improving resource efficiency with brand-new POKT tokenomics.
The post-Shannon Pocket Network will enable usage-based burning, DAO-governed minting, and a unique pricing model based on Compute Units.
Pocket will support automatic, on-chain POKT token burning to pay for relay services and prevent token inflation. Further, the upgraded protocol will initially have no token supply growth, but the DAO can increase the total supply through a reimbursement event if necessary.
The Shannon upgrade also aims to offer cost-effective relay services, making relay pricing 30-75% cheaper than its contemporaries. Pocket’s new “Pay Upfront” model will radically reduce Relay service charges to just $2.50 per million Relays, setting a new pricing floor within the relay market. Finally, Pocket Network will offer a 10-40% volume rebate to boost network activity and incentivize actors to access Pocket’s services.
After serving billions of data relays across blockchains, it’s time for Pocket Network to take its decentralized internet infrastructure stack to the next level with the Shannon upgrade. The full suite of services from the post-Shannon Pocket will make it one of the best open data layers for building future-proof applications.
