A Look at Amazon's Blockchain Service

We all know that Amazon has their hands in everything. You can buy just about anything you want from the titanous store inventory and you can get almost any service you need too if you're into Amazon Video or Amazon Music.

If you're involved with blockchain platforms though, this news from Amazon Web Services should be pretty exciting for you.

It's been a few months since everyone found out about Amazon-managed blockchain, but the news is far from stale. Plus, if you're looking at it now, you can get a better sense for the service and what it offers. It's been out for a little while now, meaning some people have already been able to get their feet wet with this new service.

The state of blockchain is something that's heavily debated, but let's take a closer look at Amazon's blockchain service.

Let's start with the basics—Amazon is getting involved in blockchain as a service.

As Bitcoin grew rapidly, the need for proper, secure services to manage digital currency became all the more necessary. Cryptocurrency is still currency—and if you're looking for blockchain services, you want something that's just as secure as TD Bank, Chase, or whichever banking chain you trust with your dough.

A lot of people see cryptocurrency as shady, but with Amazon getting involved, it sheds more light on the overall legitimacy of utilizing blockchain platforms. Manufacturers, HR departments, payroll groups, and insurance companies are all using blockchain as a service. When it comes from Amazon, you can be pretty confident that you're getting a solid quantum ledger database (QLDB).

The Amazon QLDB isn't just any ordinary ledger database; it's fully managed and gives a transparent and cryptographically verifiable transaction log. Again, just like you keep track of regular money, you want secure, reliable ways to keep track of every transaction going on with your cryptocurrency, too.

Amazon Web Services is placing themselves on the scene as a centralized trusted authority. They aren't afraid to tell you about all the benefits of building blockchain solutions either. They provide framework flexibility, one-click deployment, and global reach. With the importance of globalization in today's economy, this is an absolute necessity for aspiring contenders in this sector.

Amazon's putting out a whole portfolio of goodies.

Amazon asserts that their new service allows you to "easily build scalable blockchain and ledger solutions." It sounds lofty, considering where we are with distributed ledger technology. Consensys praises Amazon's blockchain service, however, as a "We do everything" service, as they're offering a portfolio with over 125 services including cloud, IoT, analytics, and other useful tools.

Any good service comes at a price though, right? AWS is offering a pay-as-you-go approach, which is good for smaller companies checking out their services. They also offer trials for up to 12 months with several of their products, allowing prospective users to get firsthand experience with their services. Of course, this isn't the full portfolio of all 125 services, but it's still nice to get your feet wet with.

Whether you're interested in the Amazon QLDB, Amazon Managed Blockchain, or AWS Blockchain Templates, you can get started or preview these different options. Amazon's good about appreciating their customer—even if something ridiculous happens, like your neighbor's dog eating your package. Fortunately, they keep that dedication to making your life easier in mind with their web services as well.

Amazon is making it possible to easily implement blockchain for businesses.

Amazon is out for more than just the guy with one of the best Bitcoin mining rigs chilling down in his mother's basement and mining away for coins. Bitcoin and blockchain are related, yes, but Amazon is looking at the big picture and forging smart contracts with large companies who are eager to implement blockchain.

Amazon Web Services is providing cloud computing, meaning developers can deploy underlying blockchain and easily connect supplemental applications with hardly any effort. In fact, Amazon is calling it "one-click deployment." If you've been working with creating and managing blockchain services, that promise might just make you start to salivate.

So far, Amazon has several case studies to share when discussing their AWS blockchain partners. They've showcased APN partners across a number of different industries. They've worked with the Tradewind, R3, Luxoft, and the aforementioned Consensys.

Is Amazon's move a sign that cryptocurrency will bounce up?

If the varying value of Bitcoin has you afraid and wondering if you should invest in cryptocurrencies, then take heart in the fact that a massive company like Amazon is fearlessly getting involved at this stage in the game. The Amazon Web Services' CEO Andy Jassy hails from Harvard Business School, and wouldn't get knee deep in blockchain frameworks unless he knew it was a smart move.

Jassy is confident that AWS' new endeavor will be both successful for their bottom line and helpful to groups that need better blockchain solutions. The Amazon quantum ledger database ought to do just that; it'll house information and keep it safe. With the strong framework they have in place, it's not as surprising to hear that Amazon decided to implement blockchain as a service.

“This service is going to make it much easier for you to use the two most popular blockchain frameworks,” says Jassy.

Amazon may not have always been interested in cloud computing and distributed ledger technology, but it definitely says something positive about the state of blockchain that they've decided to get involved now. Cloud services are the way of the present—not the future anymore—for everything, including blockchain.

All in all, the new Amazon Web Services can only mean good things for Bitcoin and blockchain.

At the end of the day, Amazon is absolutely a company proving blockchain isn't dead. If Amazon alone isn't enough to convince you, other gargantuan companies like Wells Fargo and Sony are continuously working on managed, scalable blockchain systems.

Amazon's blockchain service is safe, reliable, and it has the key features needed for scalable blockchain. While Amazon has been in the news a lot for the things that happen in their warehouses, they remain a reliable company, especially when it comes to Amazon Web Services. Blockchain technologies can be complicated, but AWS makes it as easy as it can be.