Episode 7 - Blockchain in the Cloud

Many of the conversations surrounding blockchain focus on the disruptive potential of decentralization. However, at the same time, many of the biggest cloud providers are either planning to offer blockchain-based services in the near future or already have them rolled out. This creates an interesting tension that we will be exploring on today’s show. We start by reviewing where Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are in their process toward the provision of blockchain products. Amazon is currently taking the lead and we touch on the use cases for their Quantum Ledger Database and Managed Blockchain for Hyperledger Fabric offerings. From there, we highlight the fact that 25% of Ethereum nodes run on the Amazon Managed Blockchain for Ethereum. This is an interesting concept considering Ethereum’s apparent decentralization, but it also points to a tradeoff that has to be made by anybody who wants to run Ethereum nodes. We wrap up on the idea that decentralization might not have the moral valence it is often given. For engineers, the debate between decentralization and centralization centers on performance rather: which architecture can best offer a level of resiliency combined with the ability to recover?

Key Points From This Episode:

• Tension between the capabilities of the cloud and the promises of blockchain.
• Moves toward blockchain being made by Google, Azure, and AWS.
• Blockchain technologies being offered by AWS on their platform.
• A contradiction between the disruptive potential of decentralization and the adoption of blockchain by the tech giants.
• How the Amazon Quantum Ledger DB works and its similarities to DynamoDB.
• Using an analogy of a letter of credit to frame the use case for the QLDB.
• How the QLDB is consistent with the paradigm of version control.
• The value of immutable state in many programming languages.
• How the Amazon Managed Blockchain for Hyperledger Fabric works and its use cases.
• Why the Amazon Managed Blockchain for Hyperledger Fabric violates the zero trust principle.
• The irony that 25% of Ethereum nodes run on Amazon.
• Tradeoffs around price and effort that have to be made when deciding whether to run Ethereum nodes from your own rig or through a cloud provider.
• What kinds of blockchain-related products Google and Microsoft intend to sell.
• Another tension between centralization and decentralization relating to projects versus products.
• The main things engineers care about when it comes to centralization versus decentralization.
• Why the debate around decentralization comes down to the performance of the architecture, not morality.
• What to expect from our upcoming conversations about Web3.