Over the last few years, many builders in the Web3 ecosystem relied on infrastructure providers that offered a mix of edge networking, serverless compute, storage, and blockchain tooling under one roof. Recently, however, it became increasingly clear that the industry is shifting priorities again.
In a recent email exchange with Cloudflare representatives regarding product roadmaps and long-term planning, I received direct confirmation that:
“Web3/Ethereum is not a product we are selling moving forward.”
That statement matters.
For developers and startups building decentralized applications, blockchain APIs, IPFS gateways, or distributed identity systems, infrastructure continuity is critical. When a large provider changes strategic direction, it forces teams to rethink architecture, dependencies, and operational resilience.
At the same time, this creates an opportunity to build leaner, more decentralized, and more specialized alternatives.
The Shift Away From “All-in-One” Web3 Infrastructure
Cloudflare still offers powerful developer products such as:
- Pages
- Workers
- D1
- Hyperdrive
These remain excellent tools for modern application development.
But blockchain-specific infrastructure is becoming increasingly specialized. Instead of relying on generalized providers, many projects are now building independent infrastructure layers optimized for decentralization, censorship resistance, and protocol-native integrations.
This is where community-operated services and protocol-focused infrastructure become increasingly important.
Replacing Centralized Web3 Gateway Services
One practical example is:
IPF.SK — Free Public IPFS Gateway
ipf.sk is a free public IPFS gateway that supports both:
- IPFS content addressing
- IPNS naming resolution
This allows developers to host and access decentralized content without depending on a single commercial Web3 provider.
The infrastructure is intentionally simple and edge-oriented.
From the routing structure:
ipf.sk/**.ipf.sk/**.ipfs.ipf.sk/**.ipns.ipf.sk/*
the gateway supports:
- path-based IPFS access
- wildcard subdomain gateways
- native IPFS subdomain resolution
- native IPNS subdomain resolution
That last point is especially important.
Why IPNS Matters
IPFS itself is immutable — content hashes never change.
IPNS adds an updatable naming layer on top of IPFS, allowing developers to publish mutable references while still benefiting from decentralized storage underneath.
This enables use cases such as:
- decentralized websites
- updatable application manifests
- persistent user profiles
- distributed metadata systems
- censorship-resistant publishing
In practice, IPNS makes decentralized applications significantly more usable.
Blockchain RPC Infrastructure Still Matters
Beyond content delivery, blockchain ecosystems also require reliable RPC infrastructure.
For Core Blockchain, publicly available endpoints include:
- RPC:
xcbapi.coreblockchain.net
- WebSocket:
xcbws.coreblockchain.net
These endpoints provide access for:
- wallet integrations
- smart contract interaction
- blockchain indexing
- real-time event subscriptions
- backend synchronization
- dApp connectivity
There is also a publicly available Postman collection for testing and integration:
Core Blockchain JSON-RPC Postman Collection
This dramatically simplifies onboarding for developers building on the ecosystem.
The Bigger Opportunity: Blockchain + Nostr
Another major trend worth watching is the rapid expansion of the Nostr network.
Nostr introduces a lightweight decentralized communication layer built around relays and cryptographic identities. Its simplicity is exactly why adoption is accelerating.
What makes this especially interesting is the possibility of combining:
- blockchain infrastructure
- decentralized storage
- decentralized identity
- event-driven messaging
into a cohesive ecosystem.
I’ve been researching smooth integrations between Core Blockchain and Nostr, and the potential is significant.
Imagine combining:
- blockchain-backed ownership and settlement
- IPFS/IPNS decentralized storage
- Nostr-based communication and identity
- edge-native infrastructure
- unstoppable public data layers
all working together.
That combination could create applications that are:
- censorship resistant
- globally distributed
- cryptographically verifiable
- infrastructure independent
- resilient by design
Decentralization Is Entering Its Next Phase
The first generation of Web3 often depended heavily on centralized infrastructure providers behind the scenes.
The next generation is different.
Instead of relying on large platforms to provide every layer, ecosystems are becoming modular:
- decentralized storage providers
- independent RPC operators
- federated communication protocols
- lightweight edge infrastructure
- community-maintained gateways
That architecture is healthier for the long-term future of decentralized technology.
You could replace the original ending with this version:
Cloudflare stepping away from Web3 and broader decentralization efforts sends a strong signal to developers: large infrastructure providers are prioritizing centralized and commercially stable systems over decentralized ecosystems.
At the same time, this creates opportunity.
As major platforms exit the space, the door opens for independent providers, community-operated infrastructure, and protocol-native services to take their place. Projects focused on decentralized storage, distributed networking, blockchain RPC infrastructure, and censorship-resistant communication now have a chance to grow faster and build alternatives designed specifically for the next generation of the decentralized internet.
Cool! 🌱