ArchiveNode.io, an Ethereum mainnet archive node service, announces its impending shutdown and claims the project succeeded. After over three years of offering developers, students, and academics free Ethereum mainnet archive node services, ArchiveNode.io announced on April 4 that it was “sunsetting” its services.

An instance of an Ethereum client set up to create an archive of all previous states is known as a “Ethereum Archive Node.” This kind of node is a helpful resource when requesting historical blockchain data that is inaccessible on full nodes.

Moreover, Archive Nodes can be created from scratch because they are not required to take part in block validation; however, they do need substantially more storage space. “DeFi Guy,” the project’s initiator, made the statement and said that it was being terminated because “we succeeded,” adding that “other solutions exist today that did not exist when we got started.”

He continued by saying that there were no active Archive Nodes when the initiative began. Access to archived data could only be obtained by paying Ethereum infrastructure provider Infura $250 each month.

“Get archive data into the hands of developers, students, and researchers who wanted to make awesome shit, but didn’t have the time, money, or resources available to host their own archive node,” was the project’s stated purpose.

He said it was never intended for the effort to “earn money or profit.” He continued by saying that the idea is obsolete due to the competitive remote procedure call (RPC) provider market providing access to archived data.

The Ethereum Foundation received a $10,000 gift from Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits to launch the initiative, which ArchiveNode.io gratefully acknowledged. A Cointelegraph article from August claims that less than three centralized cloud service companies are responsible for more than two-thirds of all Ethereum nodes. According to information available at the time, AWS was used to host more than half of all nodes.