EPNS- The Missing Block in the Blockchain
Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) is a protocol for blockchain based notifications that are platform agnostic and incentivized! EPNS provides an easy and simple way to send notifications to users by different Channel Owners (App Owners). Notifications can be sent via the web, mobile, and Web3.0 providers like Metamask.
Imagine a world where the internet as you see it is no more like that. It stops interacting with you. Your applications work on their own and you don’t get notified the way you do today. You don’t get a notification every time you get a new work mail or when you would get that delivery from Amazon. Uber doesn’t tell you anymore that the driver is waiting for you outside and you must share this OTP with him. Yes, even your favourite food ordering application doesn’t inform you about when the food would show up. They just expect you to wait and constantly check their application.
Think of a scenario where the banks don’t alert you about your low balance any more or about your upcoming EMI. They simply expect you to remember because they can’t notify you through their application and would show up at your place to take possession of your house in case you don’t pay your EMIs. You even don’t get any alerts when you make a transaction or when the stock prices go high or fall substantially low. You don’t get any notifications whatsoever. You are just expected to remember and constantly check your application to know more and to stay informed.
How will you deal with this? What would you do if your applications stopped interacting with you? Won’t you be clueless about most of the things that happen around you?
Now, take a deep breath and be grateful to the notifications that we get for all the Web2 applications that we use today. Let me break this down for you and make it as simple as possible. Whatsapp, FaceTime, Uber, Google Pay, Paypal, Your Favourite Bank app and your preferred food delivery app are all web2 applications and we already have a notification mechanism in this space and hence, we are sorted. The web2 ecosystem has seen multiple transformations.
But, what about Web3 applications?
Well, go back to the example and the world that you just imagined. The annoying and the not so comforting one? Yes, the same. That is exactly how your Web3 ecosystem is right now. Your applications in the Web3 space do not interact with you. There are no notifications that you get from your favourite Metamask or Trust wallet. The loan on Defi might get liquidated and you won’t even get to know.
You don’t get to know when the Ethereum gas fees is low or any alert whatsoever on your wallet if your portfolio drops suddenly. You are just expected to constantly check.
Why don’t we get notifications on Web3 Activity?
The communication layer is missing in the web3 applications and now you know why it is so important to have that. Nobody has focused enough on the communication layer. This is possibly the missing block in the blockchain and EPNS is a solution to all of that and even more.
Ethereum Push Notification Service is the World’s First Decentralized Notification Protocol on Ethereum. This is a solution that the crypto world has been demanding for a very long time. It is the protocol for blockchain based notifications that are platform agnostic and incentivized.
The Problem
- Services expect users to repeatedly check their actions.
- Wallet addresses do not receive alerts from any web3 activity.
- The disconnection leads to poor UX, communication, and engagement.
The Web3 ecosystem today communicates through channels like Email, Medium, Twitter, Discord, WeChat, and more. For rapidly-evolving use cases like DeFi, these forms of communication struggle to scale. EPNS protocol lets applications send push notifications to users regarding updates, account information, product drops, and more. Users can also set up custom notifications in response to on-chain events to better monitor investments, transactions, app security, protocol performance, and more.
A Decentralised middleware for all DAPPS/Smart Contracts/Web3 services.
Content Independence
Protocol does not dictate what content can or can’t be delivered to service users. Only services can decide what to communicate to their users.They have enabled encrypted transactions and shall play a pivotal role in case we have OTP blockchain in the future world to empower the defi ecosystem.
User Centricity
User always opts in for alerts from a service before they can notify you. Indirect consent, while an option will require the service to reward you first!
Incentivised Alerts
We are a DeFi protocol but a different one! We use Staking by Service, that is Lend out to AAVE to generate Interest which is distributed among the service’s subscribers.
The founders of the project believe big-time in game theory and are striving to create a win-win situation for all. They want the channels or the notification senders to benefit as much as the receivers or users of EPNS. They are trying to set up a world in which we all benefit.
$PUSH token- The Use Case
$PUSH is the native governance token of the EPNS protocol. It will be the backbone of EPNS. PUSH provides its holders with two primary benefits: governance rights and reward accrual. Following the network token generation event, PUSH holders will be able to participate in the evolution of the EPNS protocol and earn rewards from the fees paid to the network.
The fact that you can get incentivized for receiving notifications is so exciting in itself. The way they have done it is similar to a no-loss lottery in the Defi ecosystem. When services set up a channel, they must deposit at least 50 DAI into a common staking pool. The common staking pool is an aggregation of the fees from all channels across the EPNS protocol. The common staking pool is then staked in AAVE (at the time of launch), where it accrues value. Accrued DAI is distributed to subscribers of EPNS channels in proportion to how early they joined. Fees are implemented when services close channels, to disincentivize gaming.
Staking Rewards — How does it work?
EPNS is committed to reward early adopters and they are leaving no stones unturned to make this happen.
Following a successful IDO launch, Ethereum Push Notification Service governance token: $PUSH, announced a Liquidity Rewards Program. It launched on 16th April. The EPNS rewards program is designed to provide robust incentivization for the $PUSH community ahead of our upcoming mainnet launch.
Users can participate in our Liquidity Rewards Program in our EPNS staking portal in 2 ways:
- Staking $PUSH tokens directly on our Portal (no ETH needed except to pay gas).
- Staking UNI-V2 liquidity provider (LP) tokens. Users can receive LP tokens by providing liquidity to the PUSH/ETH Uniswap pool.
A total of 5,510,000 $PUSH is allocated towards this rewards program. Participants will be able to claim their rewards by the end of each epoch (7 days). Earlier participants will earn higher rewards. The rewards program will end on 15th March 2023.
Who is behind the project?
Key Team Members
Partners and collaborators
Investor Board
Final Verdict: BTFD!
EPNS is a decentralized DeFi notification protocol which can send push notifications to wallet addresses of the users in a platform agnostic way (ie: mobile, tablet, chrome, firefox, fav. wallets, etc). The project has real-time use cases and is something that the crypto world has been asking for a long time.
EPNS is a protocol that will be needed by practically all the blockchains in the future . Whether the projects come on Eos , Cardano, Tezos or any open blockchain network, they will all feel the need to send notifications and will have to collaborate with EPNS. All these dApps will need EPNS and hence, the future of the project is super bright.
They have completed just a month from the day they launched and they already have some great names working with them like Aave, Polygon, Gitcoin, Frontier , Unilend and Ceramic to name a few. This talks volumes about the strength of the project. Another thing that you need to give attention to is the fact that the project has a team of some amazing people like Harsh and Richa who are the founders of the venture. EPNS also happens to be the only project where Nishal Shetty (The founder of WazirX ) is an advisor.
Lastly, you need to look at the people who have invested in this project. One name that stands out here is Binance Labs. If that doesn’t give you enough confidence then you should see the list of backers of the project that include prominent names in the blockchain ecosystem like Balaji Srinivas and Sandeep Nailwal.
You are looking at a project that will completely revolutionise the blockchain space and the activities on Web3 applications. They are going to transform the space into something that’s more interactable and hence, you can imagine the potential that this project has .
If you wish to invest in this project , you can buy their native $PUSH token from Uniswap, Paraswap or Wazirx. It is available at a good price point and has an exponential room to grow from here. Again, this is not financial advice and just my personal views. Please do a thorough research before investing in a project or cryptocurrency.
To read more bout EPNS, you can go to their website or follow them on social media. The links for the same are given below:
Website: EPNS.io