Web3 infrastructure provider Ankr has announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide node hosting services for businesses and organizations that need to access blockchain data.
According to an official press release shared with CryptoPotato, the deal will combine Ankr’s innovative technology in blockchain infrastructure with the software giant’s cloud solutions. The service aims to provide "any Web3 project or developer with a global, low-latency blockchain connection" to help them focus on innovating and scaling their applications.
Ankr co-founder and CEO Chandler Song sees the move to bring the two parties together as a key step in bringing blockchain infrastructure to the growing sector of the digital economy. The executive further added, "This partnership, while an incredible milestone for Ankr, is also a key indicator of how far the decentralized web has come in integrating with key players at every layer of the network system. The end result It will be an extremely prolific era of new Web3 projects and large players entering the space building blockchain-based applications”
By combining Ankr's solution with Azure, the focus will be on providing a new way to engage users and serve high volumes of RPC traffic through composite services. This will help Web3 companies needing dedicated nodes to relay transactions, deploy smart contracts, and read or write blockchain data with “reliability, performance, and security,” Ankr said in a statement.
Rashmi Misra, general manager of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies at Microsoft, expressed similar sentiments. The executive said the two companies are building a strong Web3 infrastructure layer. At the same time, the node hosting solution will also provide customized specifications such as memory, bandwidth and global positioning for blockchain nodes to meet various needs of customers.
Despite issuing a ban on cryptocurrency mining from cloud services, Microsoft appears to be betting big on Web3. In December, the giant updated the general license terms for its online services to explicitly prohibit mining cryptocurrencies without prior approval.
Recently, the American multinational company abandoned its metaverse plans to focus on ChatGPT instead. The "Industrial Metaverse Core" was first launched last October. However, Microsoft is reportedly laying off all 100 core team members.
