Consensys decentralized Infura launches as EigenLayer AVS

November 15, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Decentralized Infura launch within months, Web2 cloud giants may join: Consensys

September 8, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Decentralized Infura will consist of Infura and a decentralized market of other third-party data providers.

A decentralized version of Infura will launch by the end of the year, with major Web2 cloud providers set to become part of the network, the chief strategist of ConsenSys says.

“We’re looking to launch something later this year, but then there’s going to be what they call a federated phase that they’re expecting to like to last of the order of six months,” ConsenSys Head of Strategy Simon Morris told Cointelegraph at Korean Blockchain Week, referring to a trial period while the network was still under centralized control.

Infura is the access point for most DApps to access real-time on-chain data from the Ethereum blockchain, but given it is controlled solely by ConsenSys, it provides a single point of failure. In November 2020, the MetaMask wallet stopped working when Infura went down, and centralized exchanges and DeFi projects were affected too. Infura also came under fire from some users for complying with U.S. sanctions against Tornado Cash, but as a U.S.-based company, there is little else ConsenSys could do.

2/x

Infura launched in 2016 with one mission: to make it easy for Web3 developers to access Ethereum and build the future they want to live in.

Infura was the first blockchain API service of its kind.
— Infura (@infura_io) September 16, 2022

Work is well advanced on setting up a decentralized marketplace of up to five different data providers who can perform a similar role to Infura but are distributed around the world. Infura itself will become just one of the providers in the network.

This will make access to Ethereum more reliable and censorship-resistant, as DApps won’t need to rely on a single data service provider located in one jurisdiction, Morris said.

“If you have different people setting up their infrastructure in different ways on different cloud providers using different node software, then you can start to build antifragility into [the system].”

The end goal is to build a TCP/IP-like architecture that can’t be regulated, says Morris:

“You can’t regulate TCP/IP, but you can certainly regulate the providers. So we’re trying to create a new architecture of Web3 with how it can grow [...] then our role within it [...] is to drive that paradigm shift.”

Morris said both crypto native companies and large Web2 cloud providers were keen to join but did not expressly confirm that Google Cloud or AWS are in negotiations with ConsenSys.

"There's interest from both of them [Web2 and Web3 providers]. I mean, they kind of see this as a novel, kind of potential source of a huge amount of business in the future."

He added the federated stage was necessary to iron out the bugs and get the system working properly while still under centralized control — whether by Consensys or a new body is yet to be determined. It is expected to transition into a permissionless marketplace of data providers sometime in 2024.

Decentralizing Infura blockchain’s data providers is crucial because monopolies may be shut down by a single court order. For a Web3 wallet like MetaMask that relies on Infura for data, this could have serious repercussions.

The decentralized version of Infura could governed either by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) or a foundation, Morris added.

Magazine: Chinese police vs. Web3, blockchain centralization continues: Asia Express

Quicknode Raises $60 Million in Series B to ‘Fuel Blockchain Adoption’ and Expand Globally

January 24, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Ethereum Software Firm ConsenSys Addresses Concerns Over Plans To Collect MetaMask Wallet Users’ Data

November 26, 2022 The Daily Hodl

MetaMask Users’ Data Will Be Collected in New Policy Update From Ethereum Software Firm Consensys

November 25, 2022 The Daily Hodl

Ethereum Software Company Consensys Collects User Data, Privacy Policy Discloses

November 25, 2022 Bitcoin.com

MetaMask Could Soon Launch Its Token Airdrop. Here’s How to Prepare

November 16, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Ethereum gone wrong? Here are 3 signs to keep an eye on during the Merge

September 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

The Ethereum merge is fast approaching and those with assets at stake should keep a close eye on the following data sources.

The assumption that Ethereum will just transition to a fully functional proof-of-stake (PoS) network after the Merge somewhat ignores the risk and effort necessary to move an asset that has a $193 billion market capitalization and 400 decentralized applications (DApps).

That is precisely why monitoring vital network conditions is essential for anyone willing to trade the event which is scheduled for Sept. 14, according to ethernodes.org. More importantly, traders should be prepared to detect any alarming developments in case things go wrong.

Apart from the $34.2 billion in total value locked in smart contracts, another $5.3 billion in Ether is staked on the Beacon Chain. The network is currently used by many tokens, oracle providers, stablecoins, layer-2 scalability solutions, synthetic assets, nonfungible items (NFT), decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and cross-chain bridges.

This partially explains why the Merge has been postponed multiple times through the years and why it is deemed to be the most significant upgrade in the history of the network.

For this reason, three different testnets have undergone the Merge, with Goerli being the latest on Aug. 11. Curiously, minor issues were presented on all testnet implementations, including Ropsten and Sepolia. For instance, Ethereum developer Marius van der Wijden noted that “two different terminal blocks and lots of non-updated nodes” slightly slowed the process down.

The core of any blockchain network are its blocks

It doesn’t matter what the consensus mechanism is. All blockchains rely on new blocks being proposed and validated. There are established block parameters that must be followed even to be considered by the network participants.

In the case of the Ethereum Merge, an epoch is a bundle of up to 32 blocks that should be attested within six and a half minutes. Actively monitoring the ETH2 Beacon Chain Mainnet from reputable sources like BeaconScan by Etherscan and Ethscan ETH2 Explorer by Redot is important.

*Ethereum Beacon Chain epochs and blocks. Source: EthScan*

Red flags on this monitor would be low voting participation on the epochs, the lack of finality after thirteen minutes (2 epochs) or a grind halt on proposed blocks.

Monitoring Infura’s Ethereum 2.0 API

Infura provides infrastructure for building decentralized applications, allowing developers to deploy their solutions without hosting their own full Ethereum node. The company is fully owned by Ethereum venture capital group ConsenSys, which is controlled by Joseph Lubin.

According to Infura’s website, projects relying on its infrastructure include Uniswap, Compound, Maker, Gnosis, Brave, Decentraland and Web3 wallet provider Metamask.

*Infura API status page. Source: Infura*

Thus, monitoring Infura’s API is a good starting point to evaluate Dapps' performance. In addition, their status page should reliably display real-time updates, considering how closely tied Infura works with the Ethereum ecosystem.

Slashings, are validators being penalized?

The Ethereum Merge consensus mechanism has embedded penalty rules designed to prevent attacks. Any validator deliberately misbehaving is slashed, meaning part of its respective 32 Ether stake is removed. Repetitive slashes will eventually cause the validator to be ejected from the network. Staking providers and the validator software have built-in protection to prevent someone from accidentally being slashed, for example, if their connection went down.

*Slashed validators info. Source: BeaconScan*

Traders need to understand that slashing is a standard action of the network, a protective measure, so it should not immediately be deemed unfavorable. A worrisome environment would be hundreds of validators being slashed simultaneously, potentially indicating that their software is not functioning as it should.

There are over 410,000 active validators, so even if 20% or 30% of them eventually went offline, the network would continue as designed. Monitoring slashing is a preemptive measure because it likely indicates that some service, such as a hosting provider, has gone offline or some incompatibility arose during the Merge.

Ethereum advocates should consider monitoring external data instead of just their own node and server. There could be delays or even erroneous warning signs, so using multiple sources of information could help one avoid being misled by data from a single website or a post on social networks.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.