Amazon Web Services to help get the first billion users into blockchain game

Amazon Web Services (AWS) aims to onboard the first billion blockchain users by promoting a simpler, user-friendly process, which in turn, would be an opportunity to build products and services built on the secure and open-source platform.

AWS, the cloud-computing unit of billionaire Jeff Bezos' e-commerce company Amazon, said it provides purpose-built tools, whether for a centralised ledger database that maintains an immutable and cryptographically verifiable record of transactions, or a multi-party, fully managed blockchain network that helps eliminate intermediaries.

"The thing to keep in mind is that we are the early users and we are very comfortable with the technicalities. But the experience has improved and more people are putting in the effort to learn and invest in blockchain," Emile Baizel, senior blockchain architect at AWS, said at the Fantom Developer Conference in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The size of the global blockchain is projected to grow to $39.7 billion by 2025 from $3bn in 2020, at a compound annual rate of 67.3 per cent, according to Markets and Markets research.

An increasing need for simplifying business processes and supply chain management applications integrated with blockchain technology will drive the growth of this sector, it added.

The blockchain industry has come a long way from the "dark days of 2017", with the level of user interface and experience improving significantly, Mr Baizel said. Currently, there are numerous steps users need to face and having a simplified and well-defined process will help them get into the blockchain game easier, he said.

"There's way too much for the user to have to learn. Too many steps and lots of room for error. In each one of these steps, the user can lose their assets," he added.

"Back in 2017, you could only do the steps on a desktop, but now wallets and apps are available that have rich interfaces."

Mr Baizel gave the example of the growth of Ethereum – the world's second-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $495bn – which posted a ten-fold increase from October 2017 to October 2021 and now has about 175 million addresses.

However, "we need several ten-fold increases to get to a billion, but the main signal is that we're heading in the right direction", Mr Baizel said.

The promotion of decentralised finance – a system in which financial products become available on a public blockchain network – has also played a key role in helping push things forward, he added.

The thing to keep in mind is that we are the early users and we are very comfortable with the technicalities. But the experience has improved and more people are putting in the effort to learn and invest in blockchain

Emile Baizel,
senior blockchain architect at Amazon Web Services

"We're still very, very early and the user experience still has a long way to go – and that's a great thing," Mr Baizel said. "There's a lot of great opportunities here to grow and build your products and services that can be used by the community.

AWS has become a key component of Amazon's business portfolio. It brought in a record $14.8bn in net sales during the second quarter of this year, accounting for just over 13 per cent of Amazon's total net sales. AWS has steadily grown in the 30 per cent range in the past few quarters, and rivals the biggest players in the industry, including Microsoft's Azure platform.

Earlier this month, AWS teamed up with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office to launch a cloud-computing programme to train, certify and teach additional skills to small and medium-sized enterprises in the emirate.

World record transfers

1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m

New UK refugee system

A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Profile of RentSher

Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE

Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi

Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE

Sector: Online rental marketplace

Size: 40 employees

Investment: $2 million

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.