What is Ankr?
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🟢 The simple version
Plain English — no jargon. Start here.
Ankr is a decentralised Web3 infrastructure provider — it runs a distributed network of blockchain nodes that developers can use to connect their applications to Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, and 50+ other blockchains without running their own nodes.
The node infrastructure problem
Every application that interacts with a blockchain needs to talk to a node — a computer running a full copy of the blockchain software. Running your own Ethereum node requires significant technical expertise, hardware investment (~2TB+ SSD, 16GB+ RAM), and ongoing maintenance. Most developers use a "Remote Procedure Call" (RPC) endpoint — a URL they can send requests to, which are forwarded to a node operated by someone else.
The dominant RPC providers (Infura and Alchemy) are centralised. In November 2020, Infura suffered an outage that took down MetaMask and dozens of DeFi applications simultaneously, demonstrating the systemic risk of centralised infrastructure. Ankr provides a decentralised alternative: RPC endpoints backed by thousands of independently operated nodes, so no single point of failure exists.
What Ankr provides
Ankr's primary product is its RPC service — developers add a single line of code pointing to Ankr's endpoint instead of Infura or Alchemy. Behind that endpoint, Ankr routes requests to the best available node in its network. Ankr supports 50+ blockchains including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana, and all major Layer 2 networks. Free tier available; paid tiers for high-volume applications.
What ANKR token does
ANKR is the utility token powering the network. Node operators stake ANKR to participate and earn fees. ANKR is used to pay for premium API services. Governance votes on network parameters use ANKR. Total supply: 10 billion ANKR.
Is it legal in India?
Yes. ANKR is a VDA under Indian law. 30% tax and 1% TDS apply. See India regulation.
🟡 A bit more detail
For when you want to go a little deeper.
Ankr Network architecture
Ankr Network uses a distributed node operator model. Independent operators run full nodes for various blockchains and register them with Ankr's network. Ankr's routing layer monitors node health, latency, and accuracy in real time, directing requests to the best-performing nodes. Node operators earn ANKR rewards proportional to the traffic they serve and their reliability score.
Ankr also offers dedicated nodes (a single operator's node allocated exclusively to one customer) and archive nodes (full historical blockchain data, not just recent state) for applications that need complete transaction history.
Ankr's free RPC endpoints are used by millions of developers globally — it is one of the most widely used public RPC providers for BNB Chain specifically. Ankr powers infrastructure for several blockchain projects that do not want to run their own nodes. The Ankr liquid staking product (ankrETH, ankrBNB) allows users to stake ETH and BNB without running validator hardware. Ankr also partners with chains at launch to provide their initial RPC infrastructure — making Ankr a default choice for new blockchain ecosystems.
Liquid staking — Ankr's product expansion
Beyond RPC, Ankr operates a liquid staking protocol. Users stake ETH, BNB, MATIC, and other assets and receive ankr-prefixed tokens (ankrETH, ankrBNB) representing their staked position. These tokens earn staking rewards and can be used in DeFi. Ankr's liquid staking competes directly with Lido (for ETH) and other liquid staking providers across multiple chains.
Key Ankr metrics: monthly API calls served (the primary usage metric), number of supported chains, node operator count (decentralisation indicator), and ankrToken TVL (liquid staking adoption). The RPC market has significant competition — Infura, Alchemy, QuickNode, and public RPCs from chains themselves. Ankr's differentiation is decentralisation and multi-chain breadth. Live data: CoinGecko · Ankr RPC.
🟣 The full technical picture
For the technically curious.
RPC architecture and JSON-RPC standard
Blockchain nodes expose a JSON-RPC API — a standardised interface for querying blockchain state and submitting transactions. For Ethereum, this is defined in the Ethereum JSON-RPC specification: methods like eth_getBalance, eth_call, eth_sendRawTransaction, and eth_getLogs are called by wallets and dApps. Ankr's endpoint accepts these standard calls and routes them to available nodes, returning responses identically to a self-hosted node. The application never knows whether it is talking to a centralised or decentralised endpoint — the interface is identical.
Source: Ankr documentation. ankr.com/docs · Ethereum JSON-RPC spec: ethereum.github.io/execution-apis
Node quality scoring
Ankr assigns each node operator a quality score based on: response latency, uptime percentage, block height synchronisation (is the node up to date?), and response accuracy (are the responses correct?). The routing algorithm weights requests toward higher-scoring nodes, with lower-scoring nodes receiving proportionally less traffic and fewer rewards. Nodes that fall below minimum thresholds are automatically removed from the routing pool until their score recovers. This automated quality management creates a self-regulating network where reliability is economically incentivised.
Ankr's Premium RPC tier offers features beyond the public free tier: higher rate limits (calls per second), dedicated endpoints with guaranteed response times, WebSocket connections for real-time event subscriptions, archive node access for historical queries, and advanced analytics dashboards. The pricing model charges in USD (converted to ANKR at payment). For high-frequency DeFi bots, MEV searchers, and production dApps, the Premium tier's rate limits (vs the free tier's throttling) are the primary differentiator. The free tier is intentionally generous to maximise developer adoption and ecosystem growth.
Key facts
- Product: Decentralised RPC infrastructure + liquid staking
- Chains supported: 50+ (Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, Solana…)
- ANKR supply: 10 billion (fixed)
- Node operators: Independent, quality-scored, ANKR-rewarded
- Liquid staking tokens: ankrETH, ankrBNB, ankrMATIC, +more
- Founded: 2017 (Chandler Song, Ryan Fang)