I have said it before and I will say it again. The leapfrog growth projects root from smallest of the incremental changes. From a vantage, privileged point, we often take notifications for granted. We think that it is a moral duty of an application to keep its users informed. And it is okay to believe so. However, we should acknowledge that there was a time when push notifications were unheard of.
And once the brands realized the power of these notifications, they leveraged its full potential by pushing out quirky promotions as push notifs. But the decentralized web3 world is completely different. There are some challenges in adopting these notifications. Let’s explore how:
A. Web First Approach:
Most of these dApps, if not all, are built for the web browser first. This is mainly because they rely on browser wallets like Metamask, Trust etc. to log users in. Since these wallets extensions are not supported on phone browsers (and in-app browser for these wallets sucks!), there is very little that can be done here.
And because you don’t have a mobile application per se, how do you intend to communicate with your customers? You just can’t.
B. Privacy:
Another roadblock is the ethos of the community centred around privacy. Trust me. I have seen multiple people who use avatars to talk while on the video call. Identity privacy is a big deal in cryptoverse. Which poses another challenge for these dApps. How do you connect with these users without intruding?
How Can EPNS Help?
A quick overview of EPNS for someone who is hearing it for the first time.
EPNS is a decentralized communication protocol for Web3! Using which any dApps, smart contracts, backends or protocols can send comm (starting with on chain / off chain / gasless notifs) tied to user wallet in an open, gasless, multichain and platform agnostic fashion. Open comm layer allows any crypto wallet / frontend to tap into the network and get the comm across.
Let us now understand how EPNS can enable few critical communications anonymously.
A. Wallet2Wallet Conversation:
If you are an on-chain degen, you know that things can get risky at times. You might end up sending money to a wrong address and its a game over. In a bank’s case, UI is designed to minimize errors. Apart from that, there are actual people you can talk to if things go haywire.
In crypto, you can’t do much. But if EPNS is integrated with the likes of Metamask to send messages as push notifications, it would be really handy.
Back in the day, there was a protocol that got hacked. And the hacker communicated with the project owners by sending ZERO ETH transactions that had his message hidden in the metadata.
Of course an average joe cannot do that. Which is why if W2W chat is enabled, you could talk to the other person, with complete anonymity, and request transfer of funds.
Domain Sale:
I recently purchased a web3 domain from unstoppable domains. You can ready more on why I did that from here. I also purchased pandatechie.in from godaddy a few years ago. You know what’s the difference?
In case I picked a domain that has already been taken, there was an option with GoDaddy to reach out to the owner and talk them into some form of negotiation if they are interested.
However, when it comes to unstoppable domains, all I can do is visit that person’s profile and see their wallet address. Once again, if I could reach them, it could become a very good way of helping both the parties involved.
NFT Sale:
Ever purchased an NFT on OpenSea? Either you match the selling price or you can alternatively make a counter offer. However, in order to make an offer, you need to have that much money in your wallet. Imagine putting money in your wallet just to know that the other person isn’t interested in your offer.
A simple message could have solved this problem. This would also increase the discovery for the artist as more people would ape in to seek your flexibility on the price front.
So What Next?
Some of these great use cases are already in progress with EPNS. But the idea here is to throw some light on the fact that modern day industry relies heavily on these push notifications.
What use case can you think of?
Got questions? Want to take it to the next level? Reach out to me using your preferred platform from the links below
Until next time..
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