Aptos Launches Shelby, a Decentralized Storage Protocol to Tackle Cloud Costs
Written by Ohris M. Greyoon, Blockchain & Crypto Expert
Source: Coinmarketcap
Updated: Jan 06 2026- Cloud Cost Challenge: A 2026 Cloud Capital survey reveals that midsize IT and SaaS companies now allocate an average of 10% of their annual revenue to cloud services, making it the second-largest expense after labor, highlighting the significant financial impact of cloud infrastructure costs on businesses.
- Decentralized Storage Advantage: Shelby, as Web3's first decentralized cloud-grade hot storage protocol, aims to transform data into active, monetizable assets that can be streamed and rewarded in real time, supporting high-performance applications like AI, streaming, and gaming while enhancing data control and ownership.
- Flexibility and Control: Shelby offers a single global namespace that allows data to shift locations as needed, avoiding the regional constraints and technical hurdles of traditional cloud platforms, thereby enhancing user control and flexibility over their data.
- Structural Fragility: Raval points out that the frequent outages of centralized cloud platforms, such as AWS and Azure, indicate the fragility of the current model, while decentralized architectures, designed with independent nodes, mitigate the impact of failures, thereby enhancing system stability.
About the author
Ohris M. Greyoon
Ohris M. Greyoon holds a Master’s in Computer Science from MIT and has 10 years of experience in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency markets. A pioneer in decentralized finance (DeFi) analysis, he leads Intellectia’s Crypto News, offering cutting-edge insights into digital assets.
