Tencent Cloud has announced the inception of its first Web3-native product, termed Tencent Cloud Blockchain RPC. This product, which emerged from a collaboration with Ankr, aims to facilitate an enhanced experience for Web3 developers by offering a reliable Web3 infrastructure coupled with essential developer services.
A Solution to Current Challenges
Navigating through the complex world of Web3 development presents several obstacles, including high operational costs and the need for substantial resources. Tencent Cloud seeks to alleviate these issues with its Blockchain RPC service. Notably, this service allows developers to query data and process transactions on various blockchains with ultra-low latency, fostering a focus on decentralized application development.
Moreover, it aims to mitigate several challenges that developers often encounter, such as hardware failures, network disruptions, and potential malicious attacks, which can significantly hinder application performance. The service is a timely response to the difficulties faced in achieving stable and flexible scaling during high concurrency periods, thus potentially making decentralized application development easier.
Features and Expert Insights
Setting its sights on a broader horizon, Tencent Cloud plans to offer this service in two distinct versions: a public version with specified features and rate limits and a premium version, which operates on a Pay-as-you-Go model offering increased request throughput and enhanced rate limits. Additionally, they intend to expand this service to encompass more blockchains and global regions in the near future.
Regarding performance metrics, the new product showcases promising figures, supporting up to 1,800 requests per second per chain. This feature is attributed mainly to Ankr’s expertise in node technology. Furthermore, Tencent Cloud assures high disaster tolerance and ultra-low latency RPC services, crucial in maintaining stability and service availability in the fast-paced Web3 environment.
In a statement, Poshu Yeung, Senior Vice President at Tencent Cloud International, expressed his enthusiasm about the launch, emphasizing the company’s dedication to aiding the global Web3 community alongside partners like Ankr. He said, “Tencent Cloud is glad to be offering unprecedented capabilities to empower developers and to support the growth of decentralized applications, and we are well prepared and equipped to continue evolving to meet market needs and provide the best Web3-related features and services.”
Similarly, Stanley Wu, the Co-Founder and CTO of Ankr, remarked that this partnership marks a significant milestone in the growth of the decentralized internet, hinting at a promising future for blockchain applications.
As of now, this innovative product is operational in the Hong Kong and Singapore zones for world-wide cutomers, offering top-notch blockchain interaction capabilities to a trio of popular blockchains: Ethereum Mainnet, BNB Smart Chain, and Polygon PoS. In due course, there are plans to incorporate more Layer-1 and Layer-2 roll-up blockchains.
Tencent in the Metaverse
In February this year, Tencent began the process of scaling down its Extended Reality (XR) metaverse division, a notable shift in its strategic direction.
Established in June 2022, the XR division, boasting a workforce of over 300 employees, now faces dissolution. Those affiliated with the unit are faced with the option to either exit the company or secure alternative roles within it, marking a clear pivot in Tencent’s approach.
This development signals a significant realignment for the prominent Chinese technology firm. It seems that Tencent is gradually retracting from its initial plan to create virtual reality (VR) hardware and software components. Instead, the company is now steering towards a more economically viable route in shaping its upcoming metaverse endeavors.