Ankr – An Easy Way to Launch your Own Node
The Problem
There are already millions of cryptocurrency holders: Early adopters ahead of the crowd. However, only very few are actually able to set up their own node. Setting up your own node can be really hard. You first have to buy hardware that fulfills the storage/processor requirements. Then you have to install the client software and after many more painful steps you have finally set up your own node. You have to be very careful because your node should be running day and night; the blockchain never sleeps. Overall, this process is problematic for ordinary/non-technical people. This is why so few nodes exist compared to the number of actual cryptocurrency users. As of today, around 8,880 nodes are being run on the Ethereum blockchain. This number is quite low compared to its number of total addresses (112,000,000). Launching a node should be easier, more user-friendly and much quicker than it is today!
How Ankr works
Ankr makes it easy for anyone to launch their own node. This is made possible through cloud-computing. Ankr utilizes existing cloud infrastructure from many different server providers. Users are now able to launch their node on rented servers, instead of having to purchase their own hardware and electricity for their nodes. This is possible for a lot of different blockchains. Users can launch their Bitcoin-, Ethereum-, Cardano-, EOS-, and many other nodes with Ankr.
Ankr also solves another problem along the way. According to a McKinsey and Stanford study, around 30% of existing servers have experienced no network, user, connection, memory, or CPU activity in the last six months or even more. This is the perfect environment for Ankr because server providers are certainly willing to make an extra dime with their unused hardware.
A data provider has to fulfill the following requirements:
At least 10 nodes need to be offered with:
- 2.5GHz Intel Scalable Processor or better
- 16 cores / 128G Memory and 500 GB SSD or better
- GPU Nvidia 1050 or better
In this way, both providers and customers are incentivized to participate in the Ankr ecosystem. Data providers are able to earn additional income for their servers, while customers have a super easy and cheap way to finally launch their own node.
But why shouldn’t users just run their own node on big cloud services like AWS? It’s just way more expensive. Here you can see how Ankr prices compare to existing big cloud solutions:
Another reason why Ankr should be preferred is that it is decentralized. Ankr does not depend on any single data provider because it utilizes many of them for its network. If one provider goes offline, not all nodes in the network go down too. While Ankr uses resources that are already in use, you can claim that the network is extremely eco-friendly. In order to launch new nodes, one doesn’t have to buy completely new hardware, which makes the process more efficient and less costly.
Target users
The target userbase currently comprises everyone who is interested in cryptocurrencies. Theory suggests: The security of a blockchain rises proportionally to the number of nodes in the network. This is why every cryptocurrency user actually has an incentive to launch node, as this makes his investment more secure. There are millions of Bitcoin users out there, who all have an incentive to secure their bitcoins. But as the crypto space grows, Ankr’s userbase is expected to grow with it. However, only time can tell how big this space eventually gets.
Tokenomics
Ankr tokens are used as the native currency on the Ankr cloud platform. That means cloud providers are being paid for their services in Ankr tokens. This ensures demand for the token. Consumers have to buy Ankr tokens in order to use the platform. Providers have to accept them in order to participate and earn money. There is also a possibility for investors to stake Ankr tokens. In this way they can earn a continuous passive income. In addition to that, Ankr tokens are being used to fund future platform developments.
Conclusion
Ankr utilizes financial incentives for all parties (providers and customers) to participate in the network. In this way, Ankr aggregates supply and demand in a very effective way. There have also been first signs that the platform will take off. For example, Ziliqa uses Ankr services to host their blockchain nodes. It is also noteworthy that Ankr tokens have a pretty neat tokenomics model, which ensures demand for the token as the platform grows. In our opinion, Ankr has the potential to become a global player in the node-industry. How will people launch their ETH 2.0 node when they don’t have the technical knowledge? All in all, Ankr could potentially capture significant parts of a big cloud market in the future.
All information presented above is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice.