Blockchain firm ConSensys raises $65m from major banks
Enterprise blockchain firm ConSensys has raised $65 million from major banks including JP Morgan, UBS Group, and BNY Mellon.
ConSensys has had a busy last 12 months
The firm, started by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, has a client list that includes Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Proctor & Gamble.
It completed a restructure in 2020, separating its software business from its investment division. The latter, ConSensys Mesh, aims to grow blockchain-based start-ups.
2020 also saw ConSensys acquire Quorum, JP Morgan’s Ethereum-based blockchain platform.
When Quorum launched in 2016, ConsenSys and JP Morgan worked together. Rumours first began in February 2020 that Quorum could be heading to ConSensys’ headquarters in Brooklyn.
Part of the Quorum deal saw JP Morgan make a strategic investment in the blockchain firm. The bank also sits its JP Morgan Coin service on top of the Quorum platform.
“ConsenSys’ software stack represents access to a new automated objective trust foundation enabled by decentralized protocols like Ethereum,” says ConSensys founder Lubin.
“We are proud to partner with preeminent financial firms alongside leading crypto companies to further converge the centralised and decentralised financial domains.”
The blockchain firm is also undergoing work with governments and central banks.
It partnered with the Australian central bank in November 2020 for the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). As part of the research, the Reserve Bank of Australia wants to develop a proof-of-concept (POC) for the issuance of a tokenised CBDC for “wholesale market participants”.
Related: Reimagining the financial system with tokenised barter
