Amazon: new tools for blockchain developers

During the AWS Web3/Blockchain Summit, held a few days ago in New York City, Amazon announced that it has added new tools to its Web Services dedicated to blockchain developers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s largest cloud platform, and it also offers various tools to make it easier for developers to create blockchain-based Web3 software.

In particular, it has a service called Amazon Managed Blockchain (AMB), to which the new “Access” and “Query” tools have been added.

The two new Amazon Managed Blockchain services for developers

AMB is a fully managed service that enables users to create apps quickly using the provisioning blockchain infrastructure. 

Amazon Managed Blockchain is expanding into the Web3 space, so much so that according to some rumors the company is also working on an NFT marketplace. 

Of the two new services, the first, AMB Access, expands the offering of blockchain nodes with serverless and scalable access. 

In addition, developers are given ways to use standard remote procedure calls to ask external processing sources to perform functions. This enables interaction with digital assets and apps distributed across multiple blockchains without specialized infrastructure. 

By contrast, the second, AMB Query, provides access to blockchain data on multiple chains through APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). 

Possible uses of these new tools include crypto custody and wallet applications, or Web3 consumer engagement campaigns using NFTs.

According to AWS vice president of financial services technology Saman Michael Far, these new AMB tools provide seamless access to blockchain networks and their data so that developers can easily create their own Web3 applications. 

Amazon and the crypto world

Although Amazon has not yet entered the crypto sector directly, its commitment to technology in this area is obvious. 

And it has been for some time, too, so much so that there are now many blockchain nodes running on AWS. 

But it is not just a matter of providing the basic infrastructure services, since with Amazon Managed Blockchain they provide blockchain technology for all intents and purposes, albeit only in the form of tools to access the blockchain world. 

What turns out to be more interesting is the fact that the company is targeting precisely Web3 projects as potential customers for the services offered by AMB, which while not a direct entry within the crypto sector at least seems to be a kind of explicit endorsement. 

At this point, one can also begin to imagine that the company will sooner or later also enter within the industry by providing crypto financial services directly, i.e., not limited to those related to the basic technology infrastructure. 

For example, there has long been talk of an Amazon stablecoin, but this has yet to see the light of day, or of a marketplace hosting crypto products or assets. 

For example, if one imagines how many Bitcoin transactions could pass through an Amazon Lightning Network node one can realize that they could collect significant amounts in fees. 

Moreover, offering merchants payments in crypto would allow them to save fees on payment collections, since with cryptocurrencies these are charged to the buyer.

Moreover, it might be the case that eventually some of Amazon’s competitors might get ahead of it in this respect, setting off a competition that might eventually force the US giant to open up to cryptocurrencies, even if only by starting with stablecoins.