SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / March 10, 2021 / Decentralized database provider Bluzelle has collaborated with Equinix, the world's digital infrastructure company^TM, to allow hosting validators in Proof-of-Stake blockchains on standard cloud computing solutions.

Utilizing the capabilities of Hardware Security Modules (HSM), secure chips designed to prevent any software or hardware-based form of tampering, and Bluzelle's proprietary communication module, stakers are able to set up their validators on the traditionally insecure cloud environment.

Setting up validator nodes for PoS blockchains on cloud providers such as Google Cloud Platform or Amazon Web Services is a highly alluring proposition. The distributed and cost-effective cloud computing infrastructure allows to avoid many of the challenges traditionally involved with staking, including maintaining impeccable uptime and performance.

However, validating a Proof-of-Stake network requires the utmost degree of security, and hosting the node on the cloud would expose the validator's private key to the cloud network. If the validator's environment were to be hacked, the attackers could act maliciously, exposing the staker to slashing and loss of reputation. If a sufficient number of the blockchain's validators rely on vulnerable cloud platforms, an attack could compromise the entire network and destroy its value.

"For security reasons, professional validators generally use private server infrastructure backed by HSMs that hold critical data like the private keys," explained Pavel Bains, Co-Founder and CEO of Bluzelle. "This level of security is generally inaccessible to all but the largest and most well-funded validators. While on some networks, validators are meant to be professional enterprises, blockchains like Ethereum 2.0 make a point in opening validation to as many enthusiasts as possible."

Bluzelle's solution is made for the smaller stakers, allowing anyone with intermediate computer knowledge to set up a secure and high-performance validator on Google Cloud Platform. Though Bluzelle plans to expand to Ethereum 2.0 and other blockchains, the initial implementation is designed for Cosmos and its Tendermint consensus mechanism. Bluzelle's module connects the Tendermint Key Management System (TMKMS) to Equinix's SmartKey, an enterprise-grade HSM-as-a-service solution based on FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified hardware. Bluzelle's module allows Equinix SmartKey to sign blocks whenever requested by TMKMS, segregating the vital private key information from the computing environment on Google Cloud. The private key remains stored on HSMs at all times, with SmartKey acting as an External Key Manager (EKM) for Google Cloud Platform.

"The Equinix SmartKey architecture offers all the benefits of processing data in the cloud while maintaining full control over location, distribution and access of your keys," said Anthony Ho, Product Management Director, Equinix Asia-Pacific. "We are excited that blockchain validators will discover all the benefits of our key management solution thanks to the collaboration with Bluzelle."

About Bluzelle

Powered by a byzantine fault-tolerant cluster of blockchains customized specifically for database operations, Bluzelle is a decentralized database for Web3. Its advanced data delivery network promises to protect businesses from data breaches, network failures and performance troubles. Bluzelle effectively serves as an "Airbnb of databases," with developers paying for storage space and read/write to the decentralized database.

Secure, tamper-proof and highly scalable, Bluzelle completed a public sale in January 2018, raising $19.5m. While data storage is the foundation, the platform is in the process of developing data feeds and oracles for the next phase of its evolution to help bring about a faster and more secure internet.

Contact:

Dan Edelstein
pr@marketacross.com

SOURCE: Bluzelle

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