In MetaMask, you can add a new custom RPC network instead of using one of the default provided networks. This means you can use Pocket Network as a decentralized Ethereum API!

We’ve staked enough POKT on behalf of MetaMask users to enable up to 10,000,000 requests per day, so LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!Here are the instructions to flip the switch to Pocket:

1. Click on the Networks drop-down menu, then press Custom RPC
2. Under the Network Name field, write Ethereum Mainnet Pocket Gateway
3. Within the New RPC URL field, copy and paste this endpoint URL https://eth-pokt.nodies.app/
4. (Optional) Put the number 1 in the ChainID field
5. (Optional) Write ETH as the Symbol
6. (Optional) Add https://etherscan.io as the Block Explorer URL
7. Don’t forget to save

Why is this important?

‍When you flip the switch to Pocket as your default Ethereum infrastructure provider in MetaMask, you get connected to Ethereum in a completely decentralized manner.

By leveraging the Pocket Gateway ( join the waitlist now), Pocket Network Inc (PNI) forwards all RPC requests to the Pocket protocol. The Gateway acts like an old school switchboard operator where requests are instantly forwarded to a global network of over 3233 nodes (updated on 03/31/2021).

Anytime MetaMask connects to Ethereum via Pocket, it gets paired with a session of 5 pseudo-random nodes in the network. In the event, a node was to go offline, then the application would still be connected to the other four nodes in that session. In the even unlikelier event, all nodes were to go down, then the app would automatically get paired with another set of 5 pseudo-random nodes through a mechanism called session tumbling.

This built-in redundancy at the protocol level ensures maximum uptime and unprecedented resiliency.Pocket doesn’t eliminate the need for high-quality infrastructure providers, in fact, it provides them new avenues to grow and serve apps seeking optimal decentralization at the base layer in a more value-aligned way.

Some of the companies that are servicing Pocket Network(and therefore your Metamask wallet) include Rivet, Skillz, Tuku Dev, ChainFlow, Figment Networks, PNI, and more!

‍What’s in it for the nodes?

‍Anytime you do a particular action within MetaMask, it triggers a call, which translates to API requests (relays). This includes:

• Fetch Balances
• Fetch Transaction History
• Fetch Block Number
• Send a Transaction
• Query a Smart Contract
• Send a Transaction to a Smart Contract

Since MetaMask checks the block number every couple of seconds, in the background, it will also be passively driving relays to the Pocket protocol.So if you want to support the promise of Pocket Network, sustainable and progressive decentralization of node infrastructure, but don’t want to run nodes or have an app, just flip the switch on your Metamask account and share it with your friends!For each relay served by nodes and validated by the protocol, 0.01 POKT is minted. The POKT block reward is then split as such:

• 89% to the Service Nodes
• 10% to the Pocket DAO
• 1% to the Block Producer

By servicing the relays you generate, node operators are finally getting paid to run full nodes!

Full node operators deserve to share in the compounding value of these networks! Do you know what I am sayin’?Don’t be a Bezos blood boy, flip the switch.