Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time in crypto knows that there are a number of persistent rivalries between different blockchains. Taking on a factional form, these rivalries often exist both at the project/developer level and within the wider communities themselves. Much of this can be chalked up to friendly competition, genuine technical disagreements and playful banter (which is healthy), while unnecessary, irrational hostility toward other projects to the point of exclusion can be an obstacle to crypto utility and result in missed opportunities.
One project that manages to stay completely out of these petty rivalries is Ankr. While browsing an infographic which mapped out of Ankr’s ecosystem, I noticed that they had partnerships with projects from a wide variety of blockchains. Besides the plethora of product-specific collaborations, Ankr currently supports free public RPC endpoints to 15+ different blockchain ecosystems and continues to add new networks as the opportunity avails itself. With its policy of “blockchain neutrality” and embrace of a multi-chain future, Ankr is establishing itself as a kind of “Switzerland” of Web3 solutions.
In Ankr’s case, this approach is not reduced to feel good platitudes or superficial “mission statements.” The partnerships always have a practical, substantive basis. As part of its core offerings, Ankr provides infrastructure that supports bridging, interoperability, and basic functionality. It also provides development tools to build and earn on a wide variety of chains. In the same sense that a rising tide is said to lift all boats, by connecting as many different ecosytems as possible, Ankr is paving the way for broader and more efficient crypto utility, which in the long run can benefit the entire space.