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The Amazon Web Services (AWS)-Avalanche \u201ccooperation<\/a>,\u201d as it was carefully described<\/a> last week, should almost immediately make it easy for developers to establish nodes on the Avalanche blockchain, including via \u201cone-click node deployment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Eventually, too, it might make it simpler for everyday businesses \u2014 i.e., non-crypto-related enterprises \u2014 and even individuals to establish their own subnets like smaller, private, layer-2 blockchains. <\/p>\n But perhaps the outstanding message from the Jan. 11 announcement is that the blockchain revolution isn\u2019t just about cryptocurrencies. It\u2019s also about things as prosaic as storing documents more securely and sensibly so they can be quickly retrieved during emergencies. It encompasses decentralized finance (DeFi) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), but it\u2019s also about bringing \u201cscalable blockchain solutions to enterprises and governments,\u201d including such humdrum but important use cases as compliance management, Ava Labs, creator of Avalanche, said<\/a> last week. <\/p>\n In a webinar<\/a> on Jan. 12, which included both Ava Labs and Amazon Web Services representatives, Ava Labs vice president John Nahas, explained, \u201cCrypto products or crypto infrastructures have been very geared up until this point to cater to crypto-native people. […] We need to expand the pie here. We need to expand the developers, the companies, the people who are going to be utilizing this technology in a mass-market way to bring in more people into this ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n The Avalanche community generally welcomed<\/a> the Amazon Web Services news, but others took issue with some of the language and claims, like Ava Labs CEO Emin G\u00fcn Sirer\u2019s assertion<\/a> that \u201cThis is a big deal. It’s not your grandfather’s \u2018AWS partnership announcement.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Was this really a \u201cpartnership,\u201d some questioned, or just a hyped-up \u201cuse of services\u201d agreement<\/a>? Maybe Amazon Web Services was really more \u201ctech aggregator\u201d than collaborator? Hadn\u2019t other layer-1 chain developers, like Casper Labs, already \u201cpartnered\u201d with the tech colossus to allow developers to directly deploy<\/a> node infrastructures or design private networks via Amazon? Indeed, developers had been invited<\/a> to \u201cset up your own managed Ethereum node\u201d on Amazon Managed Blockchain back in May 2021, no? <\/p>\n In a tweet<\/a>, Alejandro Pastore, CEO of Pastore Capital, described the announcement as a \u201cfake partnership between @avalancheavax and @amazon\u201d where Ava Labs \u201csold us a service rental disguised as an association with Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n Be that as it may, the Jan. 12 webinar presented three Ava Labs managers, including president John Wu, appearing beside AWS global tech lead for Web3 Shai Perednik and Bradley Feinstein, Web3 lead at Amazon Web Services. Feinstein specifically used<\/a> the word \u201cpartnership\u201d to describe the new Ava-AWS association and no one present objected. AWS and Ava Labs will hold<\/a> another joint webinar together in February and a jointly sponsored hackathon in May, they announced.<\/p>\n More important, perhaps, is a larger question: What, if anything, does this association mean for blockchain evolution generally?<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears that Avalanche will get the best shelf space on AWS among blockchain platforms,\u201d Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, told Cointelegraph. Businesses looking to launch blockchain-based applications from their AWS environment will get the best support and pricing if they choose Avalanche, Sigel further noted, adding:<\/p>\n \u201cOn a Twitter Spaces with AWS and Avalanche reps, AWS committed to marketing, education and discounts for businesses launching Avalanche subnets within AWS.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The collaboration could have some positive industry spin-offs too, in Sigel\u2019s view, catalyzing \u201cmeaningful innovation in the space.\u201d Businesses may now find it easier to launch permissionless blockchains faster and easier if Amazon Web Services becomes an active presence in this market.<\/p>\n Recent:\u00a0FTX fallout: SBF trial could set precedent for the crypto industry<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Nor is Amazon the only tech giant moving in this direction. \u201cRecall that, in November, Google Cloud launched what looks like a similar partnership with Solana,\u201d Sigel said. Given that so much computing has moved to the cloud, it\u2019s \u201cpositive to see this kind of commitment from the big providers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe main news here is that we are seeing Amazon Web Services supporting the Avalanche blockchain ecosystem,\u201d Sarson Funds analyst Evan LaMontange told Cointelegraph, allowing Avalanche’s custom subnets to be integrated into the AWS marketplace. It will be allowing both individuals and institutions to launch subnets that can operate as self-sufficient blockchains. systems. He added:<\/p>\n \u201cThis has sparked a new vision of scalability, allowing entities to easily spin up their own standalone blockchain systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Others doubted the new collaboration rises to industry-level significance, however. \u201cIt certainly means that launching\/running AVAX nodes is easier on AWS,\u201d Freddy Zwanzger, Ethereum ecosystem lead at Blockdaemon, told Cointelegraph, but \u201cthere are already other blockchain nodes\/templates available from different cloud or hosting providers.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, any improvements with regard to running blockchain infrastructure is positive, Zwanzger added, \u201cbut our institutional customers expect from us, as an institutional infrastructure provider, best-in-class service\u201d which includes specialized setups.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Howard Wright, vice president and global head of startups at AWS, called<\/a> the firm\u2019s teaming up with Ava Labs \u201ca seminal moment,\u201d an inflection point where blockchain technology becomes \u201ccommonplace and used in our marketplace by developers.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the Twitter commentary suggested the announcement was designed principally to pump the price of the AVAX<\/a> token. \u201cIt’s not the first time it has happened in this market,\u201d noted <\/a>Pastore in his 15-part Twitter thread. \u201cThis market is full of manipulation,\u201d adding:<\/p>\n This is how the price of the $AVAX<\/a> token reacted.<\/p>\n A pump of almost 50%. Probably nothing. <\/p>\n It looks like they achieved their goal with the marketing campaign and fake partnership.<\/p>\n 7\/15 pic.twitter.com\/NSQAK4rG3E<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alejandro™ (@Pastore1314) January 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n On the other hand, almost all <\/em>coins had a boost after the announcement, and that probably had more to do with favorable interest-rate news than anything specific to the crypto world. Comparing AVAX\u2019s price movement with Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) and Ether’s (ETH<\/a>) over the seven-day period of Jan. 10\u201317, Cointelegraph found that AVAX was +34%<\/a>, but BTC and ETH weren\u2019t that far behind at +24% and +19%, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n Launched in September 2020, the Avalanche blockchain has some unique elements. It actually consists of three individual blockchains: The X-Chain used exclusively to send and receive funds, the P-Chain for staking and validator activities, and the C-Chain for smart contracts and DeFi applications. <\/p>\n \u201cAvalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases,\u201d notes<\/a> CoinMarketCap. It’s not like BTC or ETH where all nodes validate all transactions. This division of labor arguably boosts transaction speed.<\/p>\n In fact, Avalanche claims<\/a> to be the fastest smart contracts platform in the industry as measured by time-to-finality. It also has the most validators<\/a> securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol, according to Ava Labs. <\/p>\n Others, too, acknowledge its strengths. \u201cAvalanche offers near-instant finality and penny-per-transaction costs,\u201d commented Sigel. \u201cEthereum settles much more slowly at a higher cost.\u201d Ease of use could also differentiate Avalanche from other chains moving forward, given that AWS may make it easier to launch an Avalanche subnet, he added. <\/p>\n Ava Labs seems keener on supporting government entities than some other chain developers. In November 2021, it announced<\/a> a \u201cstrategic alliance\u201d with Deloitte to build a blockchain-enabled \u201cdisaster recovery platform\u201d to enable state and local governments to more easily demonstrate their eligibility for federal emergency funding.<\/p>\n Government is still an \u201cunder the radar\u201d area for blockchain applications, said Ava Labs senior vice president Nick Mussallem at the webinar, while noting Ava Labs\u2019 \u201cpartnership\u201d with Deloitte to work with communities and government agencies like FEMA on blockchain applications that reduce administrative costs:<\/p>\n \u201cIt [the blockchain] helps accelerate recovery by organizing the documentation that’s needed to demonstrate eligibility [for funding]. It simplifies the retention by storing and linking all the related documentation securely on Avalanche.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The blockchain world is changing and Amazon is looking to get on board. At least that\u2019s the signal Ava Labs was sending last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAWS recognizes how blockchains are evolving, with subnets serving as appchains, and wants to be one of the hosting providers for the many subnets that people are about to launch,\u201d said<\/a> Sirer.<\/p>\nA \u2018fake partnership\u2019?<\/h2>\n
Catalyzing innovation<\/h2>\n
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An unusual tripartite structure<\/h2>\n
Working with governments<\/h2>\n
\u2018Subnets serving as appchains\u2019<\/h2>\n