Aurora Cloud’s New Positioning

Back to the Origins

When we first launched Aurora Cloud in 2023, we had a straightforward goal in mind: making Web3 more accessible by simplifying the launching of new blockchains. Since then, that hasn't changed. Aurora Cloud remains a great platform that lowers the barrier to entry to Web3, but as it has matured as a platform and its tools have been continually refined, it has become much more than that.

This evolution has been driven by Aurora's unique hybrid market position and its symbiotic relationship with NEAR Protocol. Aurora has led the way in supporting NEAR’s Chain Abstraction efforts. We've made significant strides with the release of the Cross Contract Call SDK, Defuse, the development of the Bitcoin Light Client, and pioneering Bridge Abstraction with the Forwarder.

This collaboration not only enhances Aurora Cloud's capabilities but also elevates it beyond a typical Web2 tool, giving it a distinct edge in the Web3 space and transforming it into a comprehensive solution for driving the new digital economy, spanning AI, GameFi, DeFi, and beyond.

From BaaS to the Virtual Chain Network

In recent months, our team has engaged in numerous discussions to better communicate what we are building. Aurora’s distinct position as a smart contract running on NEAR allowed us to build new blockchains in a way that defies existing categories leaving us with the task of finding the best way to position our vision and ecosystem in a familiar way with our unique value.

This led us to the term "Virtual Chains" — chains built within a larger chain, inheriting its infrastructure and converting execution to resemble a blockchain. Virtual Chains are a new approach to building pioneered by Aurora but not exclusive to Aurora since it can be adopted by anyone with a similar makeup.

This distinctive feature necessarily prompted us to reassess our positioning of Aurora Cloud. While it remains an efficient tool for Web2 businesses transitioning to Web3, Aurora Cloud is better understood as the hub for the development of Virtual Chains, with the most advanced tooling to enable the creation of complex and out of the box dApps across a wide range of fields. Such examples are starting to bloom in the realm of DeFi like the TPRO Virtual Chain, in Gaming with Arium, and Pipeflare, Energy with PowerGold and soon; multiple Mineral Mining Projects and AI Projects.

For Developers

Our goal is to empower the builders of the new open economy to build better and faster, and more importantly, to focus their resources into their projects instead of their infrastructure. Aurora Cloud allows them to do just that by providing a framework that inherits all the benefits of the L1 or L2 they are building on from the outset.

With Aurora Cloud, we aim to make this framework even more convenient by providing access to all necessary add-ons and configurable features. From day one developers can utilize onramps, access to CEXes, oracles, and are freed from the burden of setting up their own validators saving them thousands of dollars.

We will keep building on this trajectory by welcoming new key partnerships and consistently improving our stack of add-ons to provide the best developer experience. Simultaneously, we will deepen our synergies with NEAR and strive toward our shared Chain Abstraction goals. This approach ultimately brings us closer to offering the best Web3 building experience.

Conclusion

As we move forward, we are doubling down on our Chain Abstraction efforts, ensuring that Aurora Cloud remains at the forefront of Web3 innovation. Our strong partnership with NEAR amplifies our capabilities, making it easier for developers to launch and scale their projects whilst also being able to leverage over 8 million community members.

We invite innovators and developers to join the NEAR and Aurora ecosystem. With Aurora Cloud, you have the tools to build and deploy groundbreaking applications and the time to do so efficiently and effectively.

Explore our new landing page to see how Aurora Cloud can support your project and help you shape the future of the digital economy.

About Aurora

Aurora is a Virtual Chain ecosystem that combines NEAR’s scalability with powerful infrastructure for the easy deployment of preconfigured blockchains. By integrating a high-performance EVM, the trustless Rainbow Bridge, and advanced Cross Contract Call technology, Aurora goes beyond full Ethereum compatibility, opening the doors to a multichain world.