Web3's Decentralized Promise Threatened by Reliance on Centralized Cloud Infrastructure

The article highlights a critical contradiction in the evolution of Web3: its promise of a decentralized, open internet is undermined by reliance on centralized infrastructure. Despite decentralized apps (DApps) being designed to eliminate intermediaries, many depend on centralized cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure for backend operations. This creates vulnerabilities, as demonstrated by outages affecting platforms like Solana and Ethereum when centralized services like Infura disrupted access during U.S. sanctions or high network traffic [1]. Such incidents expose the fragility of Web3’s infrastructure, where centralized data sources and APIs can become single points of failure, contradicting the ethos of decentralization [2].

The author argues that true Web3 innovation requires replacing centralized dependencies with open-source, decentralized protocols. Solutions like the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), Filecoin, and Arweave offer distributed storage and data accessibility, ensuring uptime and resilience against censorship. Pocket Network’s Shannon upgrade, for instance, is cited as an example of a permissionless Open API Network that eliminates reliance on centralized entities by enabling independent node operators to distribute data queries across a decentralized network [3]. Similarly, projects like BlueSky and Chainlink leverage decentralized infrastructure to bypass centralized RPCs and APIs, fostering seamless data flows and eliminating outages [4].

The article critiques the current state of Web3, where profit-driven corporations and regulatory pressures distort the vision of an open internet. Tim Berners-Lee’s original dream of an equitable digital space is at odds with the dominance of "walled gardens" controlled by megacorporations. While crypto and AI have the potential to align with Berners-Lee’s ideals, the industry risks replicating Web2’s centralization if it fails to adopt robust decentralized infrastructure. The author emphasizes that decentralized protocols are essential not only for Web3’s survival but also for enabling emerging technologies like AI to train on open, reliable data sources [5].

The piece concludes by framing the shift to decentralized infrastructure as a necessity, not a luxury. With a $350 billion open data market at stake, the transition from Web2’s business model to a decentralized paradigm is critical for building a resilient internet. Innovators must prioritize infrastructure that distributes control among operators, ensuring no single entity can disrupt data flows or impose arbitrary restrictions. This, the author asserts, is the only path to realizing Berners-Lee’s vision of a globally accessible, decentralized network [6].

Source: [1] [This single point of failure can kill web3’s dream of an open, decentralized internet] [https://cryptoslate.com/this-single-point-of-failure-can-kill-web3s-dream-of-an-open-decentralized-internet/]