Microsoft, Tencent, and Others Partner with Consensys to Decentralize Infura Network

According to Cointelegraph, Microsoft, Tencent, and 16 other Web2 giants have partnered with Consensys to decentralize the Infura network, a key access point to Ethereum for much of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. The partnerships aim to increase decentralization on the Infura network, which is crucial for preventing outages of the Web3 services that rely on it, including the wallet service MetaMask. DIN senior product manager Andrew Breslin stated that the significance of the partnerships was less about the companies involved and more about the big-name firms aligning with Infura in their desire to decentralize every layer of the blockchain infrastructure stack. The Decentralized Infrastructure Network (DIN) is scheduled for a Q4 launch and stands as a solution to the problem of centralization for Infura, which is currently controlled by Consensys, meaning there remains a single point of failure. One of the first major features offered in the DIN is failover support for the Ethereum and Polygon networks. Failover support ensures that in an outage, traffic can be rerouted to one or multiple DIN partners, guaranteeing higher uptime rates in the long run. Upon launch, the DIN will allow for more reliable and censorship-resistant access to Ethereum as DApps won't need to rely on a single service provider located in just one place. Decentralizing blockchain data providers on the Infura network is critical for censorship resistance in the long term because centralized data providers can be shut down with a single well-planned attack or sufficient legal action. Breslin said the current lineup of partners is not a closed set, and Infura is open to other highly reliable internet infrastructure providers joining the DIN. The success of DIN relies on collaboration with more operators over time. The cohort of new companies is working with Infura in the federated phase of the DIN, a temporary trial period where the network remains centralized. In the future, Breslin said the DIN would ideally be governed as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) or some other type of governance structure that ensures each partner has a democratically weighted say in the direction of the network.