Half of Etherum’s Nodes Are Being Run On Amazon Web Services
Recent reports and data are showing that an alarmingly large portion of Ethereum’s active nodes are being run on centralized cloud service providers. Ethernodes, an ETH network and node explorer, shows that 65% of nodes (2992 nodes) are being run on hosting services. There are currently a total of 4,578 active nodes. Of the web service providers, Amazon hosts 52% (1442 nodes) and Hetzner Online hosts 16.9% (467 nodes).
Many node operators choose to pay for hosting services rather than a higher initial cost for physical hardware. AWS is a top choice for many projects including running a node for Ethereum, running a staking pool for Cardano, cloud server, and hosting websites and apps. Pricing is highly customizable based on the users needs. Hetzner is a very similar service to AWS based in Germany with data centers in Germany, Finland, Helsinki, and in the U.S.
Crypto needs to decentralize.
— Messari (@MessariCrypto) August 18, 2022
Three major cloud providers are responsible for 69% of the 65% of @Ethereum nodes hosted in data centers.
Of the estimated 95% of @Solana nodes hosted in data centers, 72% are hosted with the same cloud providers as @Ethereum. pic.twitter.com/oK08c3G6Of
Messari posted the above chart showing how a majority of Ethereum and Solana nodes are being run on one of three cloud hosting services: AWS, Hetzner, or OVH. Figures for Solana’s network are even worse with 95% of its nodes hosted in data centers.
Messari has openly been worried about this issue since their report in December 2020. The report outlined how these numbers could leave these networks vulnerable to these centeralized organizations. Furthermore, geographic node placement is not ideally disbursed. 46% of nodes are being run in the U.S. and 13% in Germany. These numbers align with the hosting distribution. This brought up the issue of potential government intervention. With almost half of the network being run in the U.S., the government could poentially impact Ethereums decentralization.
