diff --git a/nix/blob.nix b/nix/blob.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index a2f01c8d5..000000000
--- a/nix/blob.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-{ stdenv
-, lib
-, rustPlatform
-, fetchFromGitHub
-, protobuf_3_15_cmake
-, darwin
-}:
-
-rustPlatform.buildRustPackage rec {
-  pname = "blob";
-  version = "0.0.1";
-
-  src = ../services/blob;
-
-  cargoLock.lockFile = ../services/blob/Cargo.lock;
-
-  prePatch = ''
-    mkdir ../../shared
-    cp -r ${../shared/protos} ../../shared/protos
-  '';
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    protobuf_3_15_cmake
-  ];
-
-  buildInputs = lib.optionals stdenv.isDarwin [
-    darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks.Security
-    darwin.apple_sdk.frameworks.SystemConfiguration
-    darwin.libiconv
-  ];
-
-  meta = with lib; {
-    license = licenses.bsd3;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/nix/overlay.nix b/nix/overlay.nix
index d41909e35..960402cd7 100644
--- a/nix/overlay.nix
+++ b/nix/overlay.nix
@@ -1,44 +1,42 @@
 # An overlay allows for a package set to be extended with new or modified packages
 
 # `final` refers to the package set with all overlays applied.
 # This allows for added or modified packages to be referenced with
 # all relevant changes
 final:
 
 # `prev` refers to the previous package set before this current overlay is applied.
 # This is cheaper for nix to evaluate, thus should be prefered over final when possible.
 prev:
 
 {
   # add packages meant for just this repository
   amqp-cpp = prev.callPackage ./amqp-cpp.nix { };
 
   arcanist = final.callPackage ./arcanist.nix { };
 
   better-prompt = prev.callPackage ./better-prompt.nix { };
 
   # c-ares is used to bootstrap curl, so cmake is not available in the default
   # build
   c-ares_cmake-config = prev.c-ares.overrideAttrs(o: {
     nativeBuildInputs = (o.nativeBuildInputs or []) ++ [ prev.cmake ];
   });
 
-  comm-blob = final.callPackage ./blob.nix { };
-
   devShells.default = final.callPackage ./dev-shell.nix { };
   devShell = final.devShells.default;
 
   localstack-down = prev.callPackage ./localstack-down.nix { };
 
   localstack-up = prev.callPackage ./localstack-up.nix { };
 
   mariadb-up = final.callPackage ./mariadb-up-mac.nix { };
 
   mysql-down = prev.callPackage ./mysql-down-linux.nix { };
 
   mysql-up = prev.callPackage ./mysql-up-linux.nix { };
 
   redis-up = prev.callPackage ./redis-up-mac.nix { };
 
   rabbitmq-up = prev.callPackage ./rabbitmq-up-mac.nix { };
 }
diff --git a/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix b/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 85dbc178d..000000000
--- a/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,77 +0,0 @@
-# The cmake version of this build is meant to enable both cmake and .pc being exported
-# this is important because grpc exports a .cmake file which also expects for protobuf
-# to have been exported through cmake as well.
-{ lib, stdenv
-, buildPackages
-, cmake
-, fetchFromGitHub
-, fetchpatch
-, gtest
-, zlib
-}:
-
-stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
-  pname = "protobuf";
-  version = "3.15.8";
-
-  src = fetchFromGitHub {
-    owner = "protocolbuffers";
-    repo = "protobuf";
-    rev = "v${version}";
-    sha256 = "sha256-G+fU6YWfpkRDJ9Xf+/zLmd52/1vTtPoZdugZDLtCc+A=";
-  };
-
-  # re-create git submodules
-  postPatch = ''
-    rm -rf gmock
-    cp -r ${gtest.src}/googlemock third_party/gmock
-    cp -r ${gtest.src}/googletest third_party/
-
-    chmod -R a+w third_party/
-    ln -s ../googletest third_party/gmock/gtest
-    ln -s ../gmock third_party/googletest/googlemock
-    ln -s $(pwd)/third_party/googletest third_party/googletest/googletest
-  '' + lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''
-    substituteInPlace src/google/protobuf/testing/googletest.cc \
-    --replace 'tmpnam(b)' '"'$TMPDIR'/foo"'
-  '';
-
-  patches = [
-    # This is an adjusted patch for https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/pull/9822
-    ./cmake-install-path.patch
-  ];
-
-  # There's a top-level BUILD file which doesn't allow for APFS to create a directory named "build"
-  dontUseCmakeBuildDir = true;
-  # Point cmake setup hook to cmake/CMakeLists.txt
-  cmakeDir = "cmake";
-
-  nativeBuildInputs = [
-    cmake
-  ];
-
-  buildInputs = [
-    zlib
-  ];
-
-  cmakeFlags = lib.optionals (!stdenv.targetPlatform.isStatic) [
-    "-Dprotobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON"
-  ];
-
-  enableParallelBuilding = true;
-
-  # unfortunately the shared libraries have yet to been patched by nix, thus tests will fail
-  doCheck = false;
-
-  meta = {
-    description = "Google's data interchange format";
-    longDescription = ''
-      Protocol Buffers are a way of encoding structured data in an efficient
-      yet extensible format. Google uses Protocol Buffers for almost all of
-      its internal RPC protocols and file formats.
-    '';
-    license = lib.licenses.bsd3;
-    platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
-    homepage = "https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/";
-  };
-}
diff --git a/scripts/install_protobuf.sh b/scripts/install_protobuf.sh
index 041cdba0a..0bd02ac2c 100755
--- a/scripts/install_protobuf.sh
+++ b/scripts/install_protobuf.sh
@@ -1,26 +1,26 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
 git clone \
   --recurse-submodules \
   --single-branch \
-  -b v3.15.8 \
+  -b v21.12 \
   https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf
 
 pushd protobuf || exit
 
 mkdir cmake-build
 pushd cmake-build || exit
 
 cmake ../cmake \
   -Dprotobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
   -Dprotobuf_ABSL_PROVIDER=package \
   -Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF
 
 make install -j "$(nproc || sysctl -n hw.physicalcpu)"
 
 popd || exit # cmake-build
 popd || exit # protobuf
 
 rm -rf protobuf