The internet has evolved significantly since its inception in the early 1980s, with the development of the transfer control protocol/internetwork protocol (TCP/IP) and the World Wide Web (WWW) in the late 1980s. This allowed people to connect seamlessly to numerous devices, networks, and websites while accessing various applications or services.
The World Wide Web evolved from Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 to the current Web 3.0 iteration focusing on the decentralized internet framework utilizing blockchain. Web 1.0 comprised limited content creators, with almost all users accessing rather than creating content. Web 2.0 focused on content created by all users and ushered in a more participatory internet.
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However, Web 3.0 emerged in 2014 as a decentralized online framework that utilized blockchains to provide increased transparency, control, and shared monetary rewards for individual users. Recently, Web3 gained traction due to the increasing popularity of blockchains and cryptocurrency.
Decentralization is the cornerstone of Web3 because it distributes data creation, hosting, and access across blockchains rather than relying on centralized data centers, service providers, and businesses. Many companies and services emerged recently for offering services and platforms specifically focused on Web3 applications.
Web3 firms help developers create apps that provide enhanced control and ownership to users while removing intermediaries or service providers that control data access and privacy (think of popular apps that use your data to earn profits through advertising).
Ankr is a Web3 technology company offering several products and services for promoting the development of Web3 and democratizing the internet through blockchain technology.
Ankr is a company that offers several products and services, making it easier to build Web3 applications on various blockchains. Ryan Fang, Chandler Song, and Stanley Wu founded Ankr in June 2017 after graduating from the University of California (UC), Berkeley.
Chandler Song became interested in Bitcoin in 2014 as a student at UC Berkeley and started delving into blockchain technology and Web3 applications. Ryan Fang and Chandler Song were college roommates at UC Berkeley.
Stanley Wu was Song’s manager at Amazon Web Services, while the latter worked at Amazon as an engineer. The three individuals recognized the potential of decentralized cloud computing to power Web3 applications. They established Ankr in 2017, with Song as the CEO, Wu as the CTO, and Fang as the COO.
The founders began by setting up servers as blockchain “nodes” in global data centers to power blockchain applications. These nodes could grant users access to the data they needed from blockchains and provide a way for them to “stake” their crypto to validator nodes and earn rewards.
Ankr has since evolved into a Web3 infrastructure platform with over 100 employees working in the San Francisco office and other global locations. The primary objective of the three entrepreneurs was to create a distributed and decentralized network that could better power and provide access to Web3.
The increasing popularity of Web 3.0 in 2021 motivated many companies to focus on emerging technologies and services related to Web3. Ankr had already evolved into several segments and offered services focusing on decentralized app creation, including software development kits (SDKs) and application program interfaces (APIs) for the Web3 environment.
Ankr also launched its cryptocurrency, ANKR token, and started offering it as a payment method across the company platform, including payments for API services and node deployment. The ANKR token powers the company’s Web3 development platform and cross-chain staking infrastructure. Ankr’s infrastructure promotes the blockchain and Web3 ecosystem by facilitating node hosting, staking, and dApp development.
The company has come a long way since its inception to include several services in its portfolio while serving over two trillion transactions annually across Web3. Ankr’s staking node infrastructure currently comprises over $500 million in locked value. The company’s blockchain APIs are used by over 40,000 developers while processing $1 billion in crypto transactions monthly.
Ankr also became the leading provider of connections to the Fantom, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Polygon blockchains. The company offers several Web3 development tools, including liquid staking SDKs, AppChains, Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), decentralized web services (DWS), and Ankr Scan.
Ankr evolved into a leading Web3 infrastructure company supporting and promoting decentralization. They accomplished this by releasing numerous tools to make Web3 accessible to every developer, regardless of the industry, through customized APIs, RPCs, AppChains, and gaming SDKs.
The company partnered with MasterCard in 2022 in the Start Path cryptocurrency and blockchain startup accelerator program.
Ankr is also a prominent sponsor of the Sacramento Kings NBA team and has partnerships with several blockchain organizations, including, Binance, Avalanche, Polygon, Optimism, and many others. The company has grown into a powerful Web3 development platform supporting and promoting all the major blockchain ecosystems of Web3.
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