This post was originally published on Ankr
Behind the collaborative node infrastructure built to serve the multi-chain future.
TL;DR of Ankr 2.0 upgrades in the coming weeks
- Allows independent node providers to serve RPC traffic and earn rewards on Ankr Network
- ANKR token holders can stake to full nodes and earn rewards
- Will be governed by the Ankr DAO and ANKR token holders
- Decentralizes Web3 infrastructure to better serve blockchain ecosystems
Every great company has its story. Ankr is no different. Ankr is probably the most understated product company in the cryptocurrency industry. Growing consistently since 2017, Ankr has built through the bear markets, bull markets, the FUD, and institutional adoption. Ankr has been quietly building things for many companies and organizations you know of — but this year, we are ready to release our most important creation yet. Our efforts are all coming together as we launch the future of Web3 infrastructure.
The Launch of Ankr Network 2.0
One year in the making, Ankr has transitioned its centralized infrastructure business to a decentralized network, creating a first-of-its-kind node infrastructure platform for the industry to collaborate on.
Ank Network is implementing the following upgrades very soon:
🪙 Already active: Developers pay for access to on-chain data with ANKR tokens (soon to include optional credit card, USDC, and USDT payments)
🪙Coming soon: Independent node providers serve blockchain requests to earn ANKR
🪙 Coming soon: Stakers contribute ANKR to full nodes to share in the rewards.
As you can see, our new Ankr ecosystem is completely powered by the ANKR token, our independent node providers, and our community of ‘Ankr Bankrs’ (stakers). This is the best way to power Web3 — with Ankr nodes serving blockchain requests alongside independent nodes from a variety of projects to ensure we reach the highest levels of decentralization possible in Web3’s most foundational layer. The Ankr Network is the decentralized infrastructure protocol for the future of Web3.
Our Global Node Network
At its core, Ankr has built out the largest global network of nodes in the industry, creating the foundation for the future of Web3. Ankr currently serves around 250 billion blockchain requests a month and runs RPC services for 17+ blockchain partners, making us the largest RPC provider in the industry. Where other companies make noise, Ankr has quietly become the fastest-growing infrastructure provider. Ankr is also the only infrastructure company in Web3 to run its own bare metal servers globally in 30 regions, offering more locations closer to users and allowing for a faster, more reliable Web3 experience for everyone.
Last year alone, Ankr grew by 2,000% in serviced requests, becoming the main infrastructure provider to the BNB Chain, Fantom, and Polygon, and we’ve become the 2nd or 3rd largest provider for 13 of the other top 15 PoS networks.
With a deep background in building infrastructure, our CTO Stanley Wu took his knowledge from 13 years of building AWS to build a global node content delivery network (CDN) from the ground up that would be resilient and adaptable for the evolving needs of DeFi, Gaming, the Metaverse, and any other new use case invented. That’s why Ankr also sports the best load balancers and routing protocol in the industry, one of the main drivers for our exponential growth.
The Shift to Decentralization
Since 2017, Ankr’s goal was always to build the decentralized future of infrastructure, but we only found the best way to do this last year. Starting in July 2021, Ankr began building the decentralized infrastructure protocol, moving all our core technology for spinning up nodes, routing traffic, and serving API/RPC traffic into a new, more autonomous, and decentralized system.
But to truly make things decentralized, Ankr would have to build an infrastructure protocol that allowed for any infrastructure provider (currently Pocket, Harmony, IoTeX, Chainstack, and many others) to provide their own nodes and validators to the system while also figuring out a way for ANKR token holders to benefit from everything that runs on the network. And that’s exactly what Ankr 2.0 is.
With the new Ankr Network, any qualified organization or individual can get whitelisted for running nodes on the network. Node providers (Node Pros) will then self-stake ANKR tokens to secure their node and begin serving traffic coming from our industry-leading load balancers and routing systems. Their nodes will be fully utilized in the system, the same as any Ankr-provided nodes, allowing any provider to earn fees paid in ANKR. If the Node Pro doesn’t keep their node up to the uptime and performance standards set by the Ankr network, then their stake is slashed, and the next best node automatically picks up traffic to serve requests.
Introducing ANKR Token Staking
The best part of the new Ankr Network for long-time ANKR token holders will be the new ability to earn rewards for all traffic served by the network if they decide to stake ANKR. By staking ANKR, they can now be Ankr Bankrs, choosing which independent nodes their ANKR is delegated to by evaluating their uptime and performance measurements.
Along with providing these services, they also have to assume some risk by hopefully choosing a good node provider who won’t get slashed. But the upside is that in return, they can share in all the fees generated by the Ankr Network. And as the Web3 industry grows, so will the Ankr Network and the fees associated with it.
Ankr Staking opens up a new era of Ankr’s journey to decentralization, both in how Ankr Network decisions are made, what infrastructure is used, and how our token holders can earn rewards.
More info and release date coming very soon in the next article!
The Ankr DAO
And finally, in 2022, the system of community governance over Ankr Network will be formalized, with an initial focus on three core areas:
- Allocating treasury funds to support the growth and expansion of Ankr Network.
- Ensuring Ankr Network pricing reflects user demand and Ankr ecosystem projects support ongoing maintenance of Ankr Network via revenue sharing and license fees.
- Voting to add chosen blockchains to be onboarded to Ankr Network’s industry-leading RPC services.
The Future of Web3
Last year, our industry grew by 10x, opening up a new world of opportunity in DeFi, GameFi, NFTs, DAOs, the Metaverse, and the multi-chain future. With each coming year, we see additional opportunities for exponential growth as Web3 technology continues to eat up the world around it, bringing in new verticals and industries, just as mobile phones did ten years ago.
With each additional layer of Web3’s growth, the needs for infrastructure grow alongside it. We’re so excited to be at the forefront of all of this with the opportunity to build it alongside our community. The future of infrastructure is not something that should be owned by one company but a network that should be shared and held responsible by all of us.
We hope you join us on this journey. It’s going to be a fun, wild, and amazing ride! Glory be to the Node Pros. Glory be to the Ankr Bankrs. Glory be to the new Ankr Network of Web3 Infrastructure!
Stay Tuned for Release Dates on Our Channels
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The New Ankr Network: Decentralizing Web3 Infrastructure was originally published in Ankr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
