By Will Heasman
2 min read
Blockchain services provider Figment Networks launched Data Hub today, enabling the streamlined development for a range of Web 3 protocols, including Tezos, Cosmos, and Coda.
Data Hub will let developers access a group of blockchains without needing to run their own nodes—a process that can be expensive and difficult to do. The goal is to make it easier to build on various blockchains. If successful, it could drive a surge of developer activity, providing new Web 3 products and services—helping to expand this nascent industry.
"Data Hub will streamline Web 3 development," marketing and communications manager Clayton Menzel told Decrypt. "There are many barriers of entry that exist in Web 3 development that do not exist in Web 2. Data Hub will remove those barriers, which will make developing on Web 3 as easy as developing on Web 2.”
“We expect that Data Hub will bring a new cohort of developers into the Web 3 space,” he added.
Web 3, the successor to the internet as we know it, is the third generation of services and applications for everything cyberspace. Nestled within its lofty ambitions, Web 3 promises disintermediation, privacy, and true ownership of personal data.
But the evolution of the internet has its challenges. Developing on Web 3 requires the constant running and maintenance of nodes in order to access the desired protocol network. Launched in 2018, Figment Networks wants to encourage Web 3 adoption and usability, doing so by rendering out-of-the-box infrastructure.
Data Hub, dubbed a "gateway to web 3," enables developers to bypass barriers to entry by extending access to the Figment Networks' in-house nodes.
It's similar to Infura, which provides nodeless access to the Ethereum blockchain. However, unlike past iterations, Data Hub will connect developers to a much wider range of blockchains including Tezos, Cosmos, Celo, Coda, Filecoin (yet to launch), and AVA.
"Infura's main focus is Ethereum/IPFS," Menzel said. "We are hoping this product will help scale the networks we are supporting in the same fashion as Ethereum."
Data Hub also facilitates direct passage to numerous APIs, enabling developers to efficiently interact with its swathe of compatible Web 3 protocols.
With usability acting as a significant pain point for the crypto sector, any product looking to lower barriers to entry is a step in the right direction.
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