Infura is a system created by Michael Wuehler that allows dApps to process information about the Ethereum blockchain without having a full-node installed.
According to Parity Technologies developer Afri Schoedon, however, this system is a double-edged sword that could jeopardize the stability of the entire ecosystem.
There are many dApps that use Infura, including MetaMask, 0x and MyCrypto.
Schoedon, however, has firmly stated that if the ecosystem does not stop relying on Infura, “Ethereum’s vision will fail”.
“If we don’t stop relying on Infura, the vision of ethereum failed. There is no point in having d-apps connecting through metamask to a blockchain hosted by someone else.“
The sense of this observation is that most of the benefits obtained through decentralisation would be lost if the blockchain were accessed through a centralised service.
The solutions
Fortunately, developers have potential solutions to this problem. One solution, perhaps the best, would be for each dApp to have its own full-node.
Julian Martinez, a researcher at Ethereum, explained:
“People think that in order to have a fully verified Ethereum blockchain (aka full node), you need to run an archival Ethereum node. Running an archival node is thought to be an issue for Ethereum because an archival node currently takes up to 1.4 Terabytes.
Pruning the state trie saves tons of disk space because it is the historical state data that is creating the blockchain bloat. A pruned blockchain can take up 90 GB compared to the 1.4 Terabytes taken up by an archival node (data point provided by Afri Schoedon, a developer at Parity Tech). Although data from older state tries are deleted, all of the information necessary to recreate that state trie is still saved on your local blockchain”.
