Today, we are featuring a profile of one of our Akash Insider community members—Rodrigo Rochin, known on the Akash Discord as “Rodri.” Rodrigo will introduce himself in his own words, share his background, how he came to find Akash Network, and his experience with the Akash Insiders.
Enter, Rodrigo:
As a crypto enthusiast since around 2016, I have seen Bitcoin, Ethereum, as well as many other crypto assets and projects, grow and prosper over the years.
I have had the opportunity to mine some cryptocurrencies with my own CPUs and GPUs, as well as with rented ones. I got to use some of the earliest faucets, sportsbooks and “lottery” games—but I have also seen many “rugpulls”, censorship cases and other problems too.
I have believed in the utility and transparency of blockchain technology since I first found out about it. Today, I still believe in its capacity to solve different types of problems around the world, such as a store of value, almost instant payments and very low fees.
Back then, we did not have as many communities, projects, companies, institutions or governments involved as we do today, which is why I see more potential in this industry every day.
I can no longer recall how many times I have read or seen that a government or authority is going to end Bitcoin and crypto once and for all, but in the end, blockchain technology and Web3 keep improving.
My Venture Into the Cosmos
In 2019/2020, while learning about DeFi, NFTs and trying to find alternatives to extremely high gas fees on the Ethereum network, I found the Cosmos Ecosystem.
When I read about Atom, Tendermint and the Cosmos SDK, I realised the incredible work that many people are doing here, how visionary they are and the amazing open source technology that they have developed.
From the opportunity to build your own unique blockchain, to the opportunity of completing blockchain transactions in a few seconds and using DEXs at almost no gas fees, to projects that offer real solutions like Sentinel DVPN, Regen Network and one of my favourite ones—Akash Network.
I used my free time to work on my own NFT project and education. I read more about the Cosmos SDK and Starport (now rebranded to Ignite). I learned how to build my own blockchain, how to run nodes and become a validator for different Cosmos SDK-based chains, how to use smart contracts for NFTs and thanks to Akash, I have learned about Docker, Kubernetes and decentralization.
Building On The Decentralized Cloud
After understanding what Akash’s mission is and how anyone can use this cloud computing marketplace to become decentralized and censorship-resistant (while also saving on costs, when compared to traditional cloud providers), I got more involved in Akash’s Discord and forum—and I began to learn how to deploy my own apps and infra on Akash Network’s decentralized cloud.
At first, it did take me a few days to understand how to use Akash, but after the small learning curve, I realised how convenient it is and how it makes it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to host a website, and to run applications and blockchain nodes.
Anyone with a little over five AKT can start using Akash Network. At first, I used the Akash binary and command line, but now we have tools like Cloudmos, which makes it extremely simple to deploy your projects onto the Akash Network.
Thanks to PraetorApp it is also now very easy to become a provider, allowing anyone to take advantage of their idle compute resources and earn some AKT.
These are all things that help to decentralize the cloud industry, give more opportunities to people around the world and that help to promote freedom of speech.
Becoming an Insider
While learning about Akash, I participated in multiple hackathons and contributed to some of its blog content.
I was invited to become an Akash Insider and I did not think about it twice. I knew it was a great opportunity to grow, to learn and to promote something that I believe in.
In the last 15 months or so, I have virtually met some of the people behind Akash. I have witnessed how hard the team works every day, how they keep improving this cloud computing marketplace and how they have made it a reality.
I have had the opportunity to test out new features before they are made public. I got the chance to participate in different tasks, which helped me to learn more about blockchain tech, Web3, Docker and Kubernetes.
Decentralization Is Now a Requirement
After reading news about governments trying to ban crypto assets, about innocent developers being jailed and about companies like Hetzner Cloud, Steam and WeChat banning everything related to blockchain technology, Web3 and NFTs, I am now sure that we need decentralized cloud computing more than ever.
I think that having people provide their unused computer resources opens up new opportunities for Web3, blockchain tech, gaming and freedom of speech, while also helping to reduce worldwide energy consumption.
While we have been accustomed to not self-hosting or opening up our internet connections to the world, I think that it is now time to change paradigms and decentralize the cloud industry.
While the space does need regulation, completely banning these technologies is not the right path forward. These technologies offer many more benefits than most people realise, which is why more of us are using them daily.
These are only some of the reasons why I believe in the benefits of blockchain tech, in the simple user experience that Web3 provides, the utility of NFTs and a decentralized cloud.
These are also some of the reasons why I will keep providing my idle compute resources to the decentralized cloud, why as an Akash Insider I will keep helping others to learn about these technologies and why I will keep building my own project, Moonbys.com, which has several parts hosted on Akash Network.
Interested in Becoming an Akash Insider?
Please head over to our Akash Insiders page to get a feel for the community. When you’re ready, follow the link to apply!
