In a nutshell:

Pocket is a distributed network that relays data requests and responses to and from any blockchain system. Pocket proportionally rewards the participating nodes with native cryptographic tokens POKT.

Advantages:

Reliability:

Pocket allows a developer to constantly keep their DApp running with confidence and without the reliance on a single-service network provider. This is accomplished by creating different deployment artifacts like Docker, Kubernetes, docker-compose, etc to empower our node operators to setup Pocket Core software on any server or computer.

Simplicity:

We aim to make things simple for the node operators as well as developers by offering JavaScript SDKs to be implemented in any Web Application, along with making it simple to set up Pocket Core CLI which a node operator can use to manage and deploy a Pocket Node.

Network Cost:

Developers can access the network by staking a minimum of 1 POKT token which allows them to pay for their application's allocated relay throughput. Nodes mints POKT for each validated API request.

Architecture:

The Pocket Core protocol is comprised of three components: Application, Nodes, and the Network Layer. An application (DApp) sends an API request (relay) to its desired blockchain. It is then up to the Pocket Nodes to service that to the desired blockchain it was meant for by returning any data back to that application. The network layer provides the protocol rules, governance, record tracking, and economics for nodes and applications.