What Is the POKT Coin? Analyzing the Core Asset of Decentralized Web3 Infrastructure
Pocket Network (POKT) is a native Token designed for decentralized infrastructure protocols (DePIN), aiming to solve Web3 The centralization risks of blockchain data access in the ecosystem. Traditional RPC services (such as Infura or Alchemy) rely on a single server, while Pocket Network provides developers with censorship-resistant, high-availability data relay services through a network of thousands of nodes worldwide, supporting over 50 blockchains including Ethereum and Solana.
Core Functions and Economic Model of POKT
- Network Incentives and Payments: Node operators need to stake POKT to provide services and earn Token rewards; developers use POKT to pay for data relay fees, which are 80% lower than centralized services.
- Governance and Utility: Holders can participate in DAO governance to determine the direction of protocol upgrades. The Token can also be used for DEX liquidity mining and gateway fee burning (an average of 540,000 coins are burned each month).
- Token Supply: No hard cap, using a dynamic minting mechanism - issuance increases according to the amount of block relays, combined with destruction to control inflation. Current circulation is approximately 1.02 billion coins (as of June 2025).
2025 Technology Upgrade and Market Catalysts
The Shannon Upgrade, launching in the second quarter of 2025, is a core turning point. This upgrade expands POKT from an RPC protocol to a multi-purpose DePIN platform, adding support for AI inference, on-chain indexing, and decentralized storage, greatly broadening application scenarios. At the same time, the node threshold is lowered (minimum staking of 15,000 POKT) and the cross-chain bridge (supporting Ethereum, Base, etc.) is improved, further enhancing ecological accessibility.
2025 Price Prediction: Divergence and Basis
The current POKT price is approximately $0.052 (June 2025), driven by the positive impact of the Shannon Upgrade, with a 30-day increase of 324%. Institutions show divergence in their predictions for the end of 2025:
| Source | Price Prediction | Core basis |
|---|---|---|
| Gate | $0.057 | Historical Volatility Models and Staking Demand Growth |
| On-chain data analysis | $0.074 | Node expansion and relay volume surge |
| Wrapped POKT Model | $0.108 | Cross-chain adoption acceleration |
Optimistic expectations ($0.10+) rely on:
- The adoption rate of AI and storage modules exploded after the Shannon Upgrade.
- The overall growth of the DePIN track drives valuation reconstruction (current circulating market value is only $53.66 million).
Conservative views warn of risks: If the upgrade falls short of expectations or the crypto market enters a bear market, prices may retreat to the range of $0.03–0.04.
Conclusion: The Long-term Value of Infrastructure Tokens
The value of POKT essentially represents a bet on a decentralized data layer. As Web3 applications penetrate high-frequency scenarios such as social media and AI, its censorship-resistant and low-cost features may become essential. Price fluctuations in 2025 will be closely tied to the ecological effectiveness of the Shannon upgrade, while long-term potential depends on whether the Pocket Network can become the infrastructure layer of “Web3’s version of AWS.”
