Amazon launches Managed Blockchain service with support for Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric

Amazon.com Inc. is jumping on the blockchain wave with new cloud services that help customers build the technology needed to record transactions.

Amazon Web Services Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy on Wednesday announced Amazon Managed Blockchain, a new service underpinning blockchain networks that record millions of transactions. The company spent the past year studying the needs of customers interested in blockchain solutions before creating the new products, Jassy said.

The service can be used to manage peer-to-peer payments, process loans and help businesses transact with distributors and suppliers, Jassy said.

Amazon Managed Blockchain supports two popular open source blockchain frameworks -- Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric.

"This service is going to make it much easier for customers to use the two most popular blockchain frameworks," AWS CEO Andy Jassy told a packed house during his keynote address at ReInvent 2018 conference here on Wednesday.

Amazon QLDB is a transparent and cryptographically-verifiable ledger for applications that need a central, trusted authority to provide a permanent and complete record of transactions, like supply chain, financial, manufacturing, insurance, and HR. ALSO READ: NITI Aayog, Oracle to fight fake drugs in India through blockchain

Customers looking to implement blockchain technologies are typically trying to accomplish one of two things.

Some need a centralised ledger that records all changes or transactions and maintains an immutable record of these changes. This ledger is owned by a single trusted entity and is shared with any number of organisations that are working together.

Other customers want the immutable and verifiable capability provided by a ledger; however, they want to share data without a trusted central authority. For this, customers use blockchain frameworks like Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric.

"Many of our customers want to build applications where multiple parties can execute transactions without a central, trusted authority, and they also need to create a blockchain network.

"Building a scalable blockchain network with existing technologies is just too hard today, and that's why customers pay expensive consultants to help them," said Rahul Pathak, General Manager, Amazon Blockchain at AWS.

Amazon Managed Blockchain eliminates the muck involved in setting up a network, adding and removing members, and scaling to meet application demands.

"Customers can use either Ethereum or Hyperledger Fabric, the two most popular blockchain frameworks, and get a functioning blockchain network set up with just a few clicks," Pathak added.

AWS also announced a string of other new or updated cloud offerings, seeking to maintain its lead in the market for internet-based computing. ALSO READ: Tech Mahindra, Microsoft to develop blockchain-based solution to curb spam calls

Amazon uses the annual re:Invent conference to highlight new tools and features, seeking to stay ahead of cloud rivals Microsoft and Alphabet Inc.'s Google. The global public cloud market will grow to $278 billion in 2021, up from $176 billion this year, according to Gartner Inc.

AWS sales will reach $71 billion in 2022, which would give the division a valuation of about $350 billion, according to Jefferies analyst Brent Thill.

(with inputs from IANS)