Microsoft, Tencent, and 16 other prominent Web2 companies have joined forces with blockchain software company Consensys to collaborate on decentralizing the Infura network.
The Infura network currently serves as a critical access point to Ethereum for the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. However, with this partnership, the aim is to enhance decentralization on Infura to prevent service outages for Web3 applications that rely on it, such as the popular MetaMask wallet service.
In a press release today, Infura announced the introduction of the Decentralized Infura Network (DIN) in conjunction with the initial group of 19 partners, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing process of progressive decentralization for one of the most extensively used web3 API services.
Advancing Decentralization on Infura
“We are immensely grateful to all our partners who have been part of the journey to build the Decentralized Infrastructure Network with us over the past year,”
Infura’s co-founder, E.G. Galano, expressed gratitude to the partners involved in the development of the Decentralized Infrastructure Network (DIN), highlighting the remarkable progress achieved and the anticipation for the future as the power of DIN becomes accessible to Web3 developers and users.
The significance of these partnerships lies in the alignment of goals between Infura and renowned firms, as Andrew Breslin, Consensys senior product manager, emphasizes:
“The cost and complexity involved with running a service like Infura was kind of limiting in terms of who we could partner with to serve this traffic. Now there’s this huge flourishing ecosystem of Web3 infrastructure providers that can provide a service that’s complimentary to Infura.”
The partnership with Consensys unlocks opportunities for Infura to collaborate with a wider range of Web3 infrastructure providers, resulting in a more robust and comprehensive decentralized network.
Decentralized Infrastructure Network (DIN)
The DIN aims to address the centralization challenge faced by Infura, which is currently controlled solely by Consensys, presenting a single point of failure. The DIN endeavors to decentralize the network, starting with its launch scheduled for Q4.
With the launch, the DIN will introduce two key features: failover protection on Polygon and Ethereum. This feature enables users to redirect Remote Procedure Call (RPC) traffic from one DIN partner to another, ensuring continuous service in the event of an outage.
Infura plans to allow users to opt-in to DIN’s failover protection, contributing to the reduction of centralization and increasing uptime for decentralized applications and developers.
Infura’s announcement also disclosed that the initial version of DIN would be “federated around the original group of partners.” As more partners join, Infura expects to unveil a roadmap for the progressive decentralization of DIN.
“By contributing to DIN, we’re not just helping to stand up an open protocol, we’re architecting a revolution for developers where permissionless innovation becomes the norm.”
Austin Roberts, founder and CEO of Rivet, one of the Web2 firms collaborating with Infura, believes that contributing to DIN is not only about establishing an open protocol but also about revolutionizing the development landscape, where permissionless innovation becomes the standard.
