EPNS: The Missing Gear in the Ethereum Ecosystem

Have you noticed that there’s an important cog missing from the Ethereum ecosystem?

It's communication.

Despite the rapid development of blockchain technology, the industry is still like the early Internet in terms of communication. The industry lacks a mechanism to complete direct communication from services such as dApps and smart contracts to users.

Contrary to the Web 3.0 ethos, these services still assume that users will turn to them for updates, similar to the internet of the early 2000s, when users performed an action and later checked their email for the result.

The times are advancing

What was acceptable in the era of Web 2.0 or earlier seems quaint now. In the age of advanced technology, users expect to be notified of important events and updates, or actions that need to be taken at the end. Behind this change is push notifications, and now the technology should also enter the DeFi industry.

Apps should be able to reach users directly, rather than contacting them through channels like Twitter and Telegram. For example, if a project owner decides to pause token transfers for some reason, they should be able to reach users immediately through push notifications, rather than broadcasting publicly on social media channels.

Bringing push notifications to DeFi

Communication on the Web is based on protocols that standardize notification operations on the blockchain-based DeFi ecosystem. EPNS (Ethereum Push Notification Service) is a decentralized DeFi notification protocol that enables applications to send notifications to users on Ethereum in a platform-agnostic manner, i.e. users can get notifications on their phones, tablets, web, wallets, etc. The DeFi aspect of the protocol also enables users to earn money from these notifications.

Users can choose to opt in or out

Users can choose the services they want to get notifications from based on their preferences and goals. If someone does not want to receive messages from a specific app, they can simply turn off push notifications. Unlike traditional text messages, the user is in control. This enables users to get updates from the blockchain-based services of their choice, which may increase their efficiency.

Because of the design of the push notification protocol, apps are able to provide value to their users without annoying users who don’t like them.

As with regular push notification services, the best service approach is to be selective in the notifications you send. Too many push notifications and users will opt out.

Use cases for push notifications on DeFi

There are many use cases where an application may need to notify the end user immediately. Some examples include:

• Blockchain domain name is about to expire

• The transaction on DEX has been completed

• The security of the protocol is compromised

• A quick governance vote is needed to resolve the issue

• Token Policy Change Proposal

The platform reaches users directly, which is much better than announcing an event on social media, where you can never be sure whether the audience actually reads the content.

Apps can also use push notifications effectively to inform users about the services they offer or important developments in the industry. Push notifications are an effective medium for ongoing communication and presentation of new content.

But be careful not to use it too often, as this may irritate some users.

How the protocol works

EPNS abstracts the data layer to facilitate the sending of notifications to centralized and decentralized operators. Backed by a solid infrastructure, the protocol supports the delivery of notifications from decentralized to centralized operators and ultimately to centralized platforms such as iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, etc. Sending notifications requires users (for applications only) to pay a small fee in ETH or DAI. The specific fee is determined by the governance model.

Summarize

The lack of direct communication between applications and end users has always been a glaring gap in Ethereum infrastructure. Although blockchain is a world-changing technology, communication is still stuck in web-2.0.

The arrival of push notifications in the Ethereum ecosystem fills this gap. These notifications are instantly distributed to the platform used by the end user and are facilitated through the EPNS (Ethereum Push Notification Service) protocol. Apps have full control over the content of the communication, while users can opt in and out. The ideal use cases for push notifications in the Ethereum space are plentiful.

The EPNS protocol implements standardized communications in the Ethereum ecosystem, supporting decentralized transmission of notifications to centralized operators and centralized platforms.