Ethereum Push Notification Service (EPNS) is a decentralized middleware protocol that enables smart contracts, dApps, and traditional services to send notifications to wallet addresses that have opted to receive the notifications. EPNS enables incentives and passive earnings for users receiving the decentralized notifications.
Co-founders Harsh Rajat and Richa Joshi identified communication fragmentation as a major pain point in Web 3. Today, users need to check a plethora of sites (dApps, exchanges, smart contracts, medium, etc.) to get the information they are looking for (loan liquidations, governance proposals, limit orders being filled, protocol updates, etc.). Harsh and Richa sought to rectify the communications gap with notifications, thus the idea of Ethereum Push Notification Service was born in January 2020.
To develop EPNS Harsh and Richa took full advantage of the Ethereum community and resources. First, they presented the idea to the Ethereum Foundation where they received the guidance and support to begin fully pursuing EPNS. Next, they built the prototype at ETH Global with support from the ETH developer community, especially Aave. Then, they took the prototype to IDEO PVD and received feedback and tips on synthesizing end users suggestions. Finally, EPNS was selected as a top 20 project for Gitcoin Kernel which led to backing from the community and the initial rounds of funding.
PUSH is the native governance token for the EPNS protocol. PUSH grants its owners voting rights over core functionalities of the protocol, in addition to incentives towards developing 3rd party channels via the protocol, for active participation in the protocol, or for running PUSH Nodes.
For notifications sent through the protocol, micro-fees are gathered from the service providers. Fees are distributed in a ratio of 70% for PUSH holders and 30% for the ecosystem development pool. PUSH governance can vote on fee structures and more. As of writing, there are around 3,000 token holders. More details are available here.
