Blockchain software company ConsenSys this week entered into a strategic deal with the largest bank in the USA, JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan invested in the software manufacturer and also handed over the Quorum block chain platform to them.
The banking giant has been working closely with ConsenSys and other block chain companies since the founding of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) in 2017. Since the launch of Quorum in 2016, ConsenSys and J.P. Morgan have worked together to make Ethereum the platform of choice for companies developing secure and adaptable enterprise networks on a large scale.
KPMorgan currently employs a team of approximately 25 people in its Quorum Blockchain unit. Quorum builds on the Ethereum blockchain. JPMorgan's JPM-Coin runs as a stablecoin through the Quorum platform and enables instant payments between institutional accounts. JPMorgan has built the Quorum block chain internally with the help of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA).
JPMorgan becomes a customer of the advanced features
Discussions about a merger of ConsenSys and Quorum started about half a year ago. Now JPMorgan has published the official decision in a press release to hand over its Ethereum blockchain variant for companies "Quorum" to ConsenSys.
"The formation of Quorum was a first for J.P. Morgan, both in terms of developing its own block chain protocol and open source software for the developer community. We are incredibly proud of the use of Quorum over the last few years. We are pleased to have ConsenSys as a partner to help us move the vision forward". - Umar Farooq, Global Head of Blockchain JP Morgan
ConsenSys will merge its existing protocol roadmap with Quorum, using the best of both codes. Quorum will also remain open source and will be interoperable with ConsenSys' other leading block chain products. JPMorgan will be a customer of ConsenSys' advanced features and services used by Quorum.
ConsenSys gains influence
The JP Morgan Stablecoin "JPM Coin" will be further developed on the ConsenSys Quorum platform from now on, but it will still be owned by JP Morgan. The Blockchain company will also play an important role in other projects. For example the "Interbank Information Network", which has over 200 banks as customers.
In an interview with CNN, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin mentioned that their Ethereum-based technology could replace SWIFT's current most widely used interbank network. Lubin also said that this step strengthens JP Morgan's confidence in the Ethereum technology, which has been used more and more actively in recent months.
In addition, JPMorgan made a strategic investment in ConsenSys, but none of the companies wanted to comment on the amount.
