The launch of AWS Blockchain Templates for smart contracts by Amazon Web Services recently has been phenomenal. This will hasten the process of building new blockchain networks. About the launch, Jeff Barr, the Chief Evangelist for AWS posted on the AWS blog on 19th April, “We are launching AWS Blockchain Templates today. These templates will let you launch an Ethereum (either public or private) or Hyperledger Fabric (private) network in a matter of minutes and with just a few clicks. The templates create and configure all of the AWS resources needed to get you going in a robust and scalable fashion.”

Prior to this new relationship, Amazon Web Services had joined hands with Corda R3, Sawtooth, PokitDok, and Quorum. Corda lets the users create dApps on the AWS platform. However, with the help of the latest AWS Blockchain Templates, the users can develop fully fledged Ethereum network within a few minutes. The same goes for Hyperledger network. The difference is that the Hyperledger network launched will be completely private while the Ethereum ones can be private or public.

When developing Ethereum templates, the Amazon Web Services users have the option to choose from two different launch options. The blockchain framework chosen as containers by the user will be deployed by AWS Blockchain Templates directly on an EC2 instance fuelling Docker or on the Amazon Elastic Container Service cluster (ECS). Ethereum networks launched with the help of Amazon Web Services will most probably support Ethereum mining. The EthStats page will keep an eye on the network metrics. Amazon will also give an EthExplorer toolkit to the clients such that they can reconnoiter the transactions and the smart contracts that are stored in the ledger. As the networks will be developed directly into the user’s Amazon VPC, it will allow the user to access the subnets of VPC and Access Control Lists. The user also has the option to reduce the use of resources by utilizing granular permissions allocated with AWS IAM.

This venture will be beneficial for many industries as they can launch both private and public Ethereum networks through AWS for analysis of critical financial data and audit and risk assessment tasks and so on.

Ethereum Alliance and Enigma (ENG) and Decentralized Identity Foundation

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF) have incorporated Enigma (ENG) as a member recently. The cryptocurrency, Enigma (ENG) focuses on privacy, security, and scalability. The platform, Enigma Data Marketplace, launched three weeks prior to this announcement acts as a bridge between data providers and apposite data consumers. The objective of Enigma (ENG) is to assimilate crypto world and financial datasets.

Enigma is also looking forward to improvising decentralization for blockchains by conforming smart contracts like Ethereum’s into “secret contracts”. This technology will hide entered data from the code-executing nodes on the network of Enigma. It is a step that will ensure the safety of sensitive data and is believed to be capable of bringing out hitherto unknown areas for development. These were mainly hindered by privacy concerns. It is expected that this type of platform will enable merging of datasets across several industries by eradicating the barriers that prevent corporate collaborations. This is one of the major reasons for acceptance of Enigma by Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and Decentralized Identity Foundation.

Apart from this new entrance, EEA boasts of notable members like Intel, Accenture, J.P. Morgan, Santander, BP, Bancor, CME Group and many others. The objective is to “evolve Ethereum into an enterprise-grade technology”. Enigma plans to launch Catalyst, its first protocol along with its mainnet in Q3 of this year. The format will be compatible Ethereum such as to make it accessible to all the members of EEA. The Digital Identity Foundation, on the other hand, focuses on keeping one’s data and proof of identity private. As explained in the blog of Enigma, “Enigma enables individuals to share claims without over-sharing sensitive data, i.e. proving you are over 21 without revealing your birthday.”

A Little about Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) is a not-for-profit and is supported by the industry to basically develop and promote Ethereum based technology open-source reference architectures. This way Ethereum is evolving as an enterprise-grade technology whose main areas of interest are scalability, security, privacy, and confidentiality.

Price Analysis

After the scare of the first quarter in 2018, it seems Ethereum (ETH) is back on its feet. Currently, according to coinmarketcap.com the price of Ethereum is $639.60 USD (3.88%) approximately. (As of 23rd April 2018). As the second quarter progresses, it is expected that the price will increase and will soon break the $648 mark. Currently, it seems that the charts are depicting a bullish trendline. This may be the result of the new partnerships of Ethereum and the efforts of EEA.

For the latest cryptocurrency news, join our Telegram!

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.

Image courtesy of ali asaria via Flickr