[mistermackle]

"The network needs machines that store both application data and user data, and rewards machines that perform this storage with cryptocurrency tokens." - Isn't it likely a bunch of people will just host on AWS/Google Cloud?

[lacker]

Yep, I think that is likely. In fact it is encouraged. The codebase has instructions for running on Google Cloud via Kubernetes:

https://github.com/axiom-org/axiom/tree/master/testnet

Being decentralized means that the same backend logic can run on any cloud provider, or on a simple server connecting to the internet. But it's okay if in practice many of the hosting providers are running on top of cloud providers.