Edgevana is an intuitive online B2B marketplace platform that facilitates optimized transactions between data center operators, colocation providers, etc. Mark Thiele, the Co-Founder & CEO, in an interview with TechEconomy, gives an insight into how his company helps meet the speed, scale, security, and resilience needs of the world’s fastest-growing blockchain protocol operators, NFT providers, and enterprises adopting decentralized ledger technologies.
Edgevana is one of the players in the blockchain industry; but can you explain in a layman’s language the services you provide, in terms of :
Your overall operations
Edgevana aims to be the market leader in “Blockchain Infrastructure and Ecosystem Services”. Edgevana’s software platform and global presence provide the agility, scale, distribution, and economics that appeal to Web3 and Edge deployments.
The company was founded by myself and Subhan Jahromi in 2019 with the express purpose of simplifying and accelerating the selection, provisioning, and deployment of the data center, co-location, and edge computing facilities.
How is Edgevana able to store data for enterprises, which is one of your core services?
Edgevana does not directly store or have access to data for its customers. The company will build best-fit solutions for each customer and ensure each layer of the solution is supported by the necessary partner skills and experience.
Traditionally, other vendors in this space lack the distribution needed to successfully and affordably meet the needs of the world’s fastest-growing blockchain protocol operators, NFT providers, and enterprises adopting decentralized ledger technologies.
Edgevana is able to meet those needs by exposing to the customer a combination of data center suppliers that, by virtue of being different companies and widely distributed, create a ready-made, decentralized infrastructure fit for Web3.
With access to 1000s of colocation sites and 10s of 1000s of edge locations distributed globally, Edgevana has the ability to consolidate products and services from each of its partners and deliver decentralized solutions that are the best fit based on the needs of the customer.
Are these data saved in the cloud and how safe are they?
Data is located and protected based on customer requirements and enabled via a combination of Edgevana and its partners.
Where are your major markets?
With Edgevana’s extensive community of global data center partnerships and resources that can work in over 100 countries, there are few locations Edgevana can’t be of help.
Is Nigeria one of your markets, considering the fact that the adoption of blockchain is still very much new.
Yes, Nigeria is one of Edgevana’s markets. While Web3 may be nascent, the broader market is ripe for distributed infrastructure that can bring services to hard-to-reach areas.
If you have a market here in Nigeria, how big or small is it?
The market size for Edgevana could measure in the 10s of millions. Expectations for the adoption of Edge, cloud services, and Web3 over the next decade are likely to create combined economic value for Nigeria in the billions.
Which types of businesses should be adopting blockchain technology?
According to CB Insights “What began as the basis of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain technology — a virtual ledger capable of recording and verifying a high volume of digital transactions — is now spreading across a wave of industries. In 2021, funding to blockchain startups surged 713% YoY to reach $25.2B.”
While finance was the main driver for blockchain due to the popularity of Bitcoin, a number of entrepreneurs are recognizing the value of the Blockchain and its ability to transform markets and industries.
A few examples include:
- Blockchain technology in gaming is driven by non-fungible tokens (NFTs), digital assets that represent in-game content. These tokens are unique, rare, and indivisible, while the blockchain networks that underpin NFTs facilitate player ownership, provable scarcity, interoperability, and immutability.
- The insurance industry is using the blockchain to automate the underwriting and claims settlement process. They are also using smart contracts between blockchain accounts to make transactions faster and more secure.
- Accounting is another example of an industry being transformed by the blockchain. Accountants are often working with sensitive and confidential personal information (e.g., banking details, taxes, brokerage information, etc.). The decentralized nature of the blockchain helps to keep this information more secure as it is processed and used for accounting purposes.
- The metaverse is also playing a role in extending the value of the blockchain. As Virtual Reality becomes more mainstream, consumers will be leveraging the blockchain via NFTs and cryptocurrencies to interact and also pay for interactions across the metaverse.
Those are just a few examples of how blockchain technology is transforming industries.
How affordable are your services?
Our services are often up to 40% less costly than other vendors in our space. Let’s say a data center provider wanted to set up a new location in a new country. It would likely cost $200M and require 18 months of development to build out the site.
It takes Edgevana a few phone calls and some contract negotiation to do the same thing. This allows them to respond quickly to customer needs by building out solutions across multiple partners.
How can we make governments and businesses more interested in adopting blockchain technology?
We all know that the government is often slow to adopt new technology. However, the blockchain has the power to transform government by offering trusted ways to organize information that is now held in a physical or traditional digital format.
In terms of trust, the Blockchain combines cryptography and distributed networking to create a more secure ledger to store and validate transactions. In the future, we will see governments using the blockchain for things like deeds and land registration, identity verification via digital IDs, financial tracking and tax accounting, etc.
Some examples of countries already using the blockchain include:
- Estonia is using the blockchain and Ethereum to register citizens for their E-Resident program.
- The UK uses the blockchain for welfare payments and student loans.
- Georgia is issuing land titles via the Blockchain.
- Singapore uses the Blockchain for interbank payments.
- Venezuela has phased out the Bolivar and is using blockchain-based Petro Coin as its primary currency.
You recently launched QuickRamp, tell us more about it.
Edgevana’s new QuickRamp™ solution is a key differentiator for the company. The solution is the fastest and most cost-effective way for decentralized and peer-to-peer networks to onboard the validator crowd communities they rely on for transaction processing, network operations, and security.
A first-of-its-kind product, QuickRamp™ provides community members with a stress-free path to operating a blockchain node (validator) or storage node. The solution also gives hyper-growth blockchain platform operators assurance that its network nodes are well provisioned, properly configured, and can be rapidly deployed on a global scale anytime, anywhere.
It is also important to note that validators can pay for the QuickRamp™ the crypto of their choice.
A few key points in addition to the above.
- In order to become a validator, you need to find a data center to house your blockchain/storage node and negotiate a contract, which is not an easy process. Because Edgevana has developed a global network of data center partnerships, these steps are eliminated, making the path to becoming a validator much simpler.
- The faster validators are onboarded, the faster blockchain companies can grow.
- Staking a certain amount of crypto is a requirement to become a validator. This is one of the reasons why Edgevana allows validators to pay for QuickRamp™ with crypto. Currently, large organizations that compete with Edgevana don’t have the capability to offer this payment method and likely don’t want to take the financial risk. Because Edgevana is a small and nimble company, they are
