ConsenSys, AMD to Develop Ethereum-based Cloud Computing Infrastructure

Ethereum-related development firm ConsenSys has partnered with US-based multinational computer chip manufacturer AMD to develop a blockchain-based cloud computing infrastructure.

Announced on Friday, the W3BCLOUD computing architecture will be developed through a collaborative effort involving ConsenSys, AMD, and United Arab Emirates-based investment company Halo Holdings. W3BCLOUD will be used to power “optimized datacenter solutions for emerging blockchain workloads”, the announcement noted.

Cloud-Computing To Offer Better Scalability

The W3BCLOUD solution may be used by software programs developed for commercial enterprises and governments. As the “first independent cloud computing blockchain” enabled infrastructure, W3BCLOUD will provide “increased transaction throughput” with enhanced security. Commenting on the new initiative, Joseph Lubin, the founder of Brooklyn, New York-based ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, remarked: 

Bolstering the compute power of blockchain networks with AMD’s leading-edge technology will be of great benefit to the scalable adoption of emerging decentralized systems around the globe. The combination of hardware and software will power a new infrastructure layer and enable an accelerated proliferation of blockchain technologies.

Meanwhile, Joerg Roskowetz, the blockchain tech product management director at AMD, said: 

We are excited to work with Consensys and provide them with access to high-performance
hardware technologies capable of better scaling and proliferating decentralized networks and
services to meet the growing interest from large corporations and governments looking to tackle
[various technological]challenges.

AMD Generates “Neglible” Revenue From Sales To Miners

As mentioned in the press release, AMD’s hardware technology will complement Ethereum’s software architecture in order to develop business solutions for enterprise datacenters, “health ID tracking”, licensing, supply chain management, and “smart identity” verification. As CryptoGlobe repoorted in late July 2018, AMD had been expecting near-zero revenue from its GPU sales to cryptocurrency miners.

During the historic digital currency market bull run, “as much as 10% of AMD’s quarterly revenue” had come from the crypto mining sector. Last year in July, AMD’s CEO Lisa Su had said that the chipmaker had been expecting about 6% of its revenue to come from the mining industry and almost no revenue from mining during Q3 2018 due to the rapidly declining prices of cryptoassets.

In October 2018, AMD’s stock price dropped considerably when the company published its Q3 financial report. AMD’s revenue for last year’s third quarter was of $1.65 billion which was slightly below the projected $1.7 billion. According to AMD’s management team, the firm’s revenue from GPU sales to miners was “negligible.”

Despite the extended bear market, which has seen ConsenSys planning to lay off as much as 60% of its staff, both AMD and ConsenSys appear to moving forward with their crypto and blockchain-related projects – even if it means working with fewer resources dedicated to the fragile digital asset ecosystem.