Consensys

Consensys Inc. is a startup dedicated to aiding the creation of businesses that use Ethereum to create decentralized applications. It was founded by Joseph Lubin, one of the co-developers of Ethereum, in 2015. 
In its early days, the company was focused on launching new products. For example, Consensys began working with the data management firm Amalto to create an automated, blockchain-powered, ticket-based order system for the oil and gas industry in June 2018. Consensys also launched Tachyon, an Ethereum-focused startup accelerator program to help open-source software, social impact, and general Ethereum startups receive education and seed funding to develop applications on the Ethereum blockchain in 2018. Tachyon has been re-released twice since then, the most recent iteration launching in 2019. 
Consensys operates an electronic retail-level electricity market with a company called Grid+. The Ethereum-based technology platform supplied by Consensys addresses payments and relies on existing energy grids. 
In October of 2018, the company acquired Planetary Resources Inc., an asteroid-mining venture that had planned to use Ethereum-based smart contracts for commerce in space.
== Products == 
Consensys' crypto wallet, “MetaMask,” allows users to store their ether and other cryptocurrencies. Consensys also developed a variety of other tools under the "MetaMask" umbrella.
Infura is Consensys' original platform for web3 development, which gives developers access to an integrated set of tools to easily build and scale their decentralized applications.
It also offers Linea, a developer-ready zkEVM rollup L2 network to scale Ethereum.
== Ups and downs ==
In December 2018, Joseph Lubin announced that Consensys would cut its staff by 13 percent. In a letter Lubin sent to employees, he said that the project would focus on improving its efficiency and cutting off underperforming projects. He said this was in part due to the significant decrease in cryptocurrency prices throughout 2018, as well as the increasingly competitive nature of the cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces.
Despite losses, the investment arm of the company, Consensys Ventures, announced in January 2019 that it had invested in two blockchain startups: $1 million in the French wallet and trading platform Coinhouse, and an undisclosed amount to Tenta, an encryption-protected Internet browser.
In February 2020, Consensys announced during a company-wide meeting that the company would undergo a major restructuring process, dividing the company into two parts: one focused on software development and the other on startup investment. As part of the restructure, 14 percent of staff would be laid off. The restructuring reportedly included moving key assets to a new Delaware entity called Consensys Software Inc. (CSI).
This move led to a legal fight starting in 2022 that pitted Joe Lubin against a group of his former employees at Consensys who were also minority shareholders. The former employees contended that Consensys improperly transferred some important assets, including MetaMask and Infura, to the new entity, which is owned by Lubin along with J.P. Morgan, Microsoft, Softbank and Singapore’s state-owned Temasek. The plaintiffs claimed they were largely excluded from the restructuring, leaving their shares in the original Consensys AG far less valuable. They filed a demand that the transfer be put to a retroactive shareholder vote, and later that year a judge in the Swiss canton of Zug granted that demand.
On April 25, 2024, Consensys sued the Securities and Exchange Commission in an attempt to block it from classifying ether as a security. If an ether token is deemed a security, platforms such as Consensys that sell ether could face penalties for having sold an unregistered security.
== Development deal with J.P. Morgan ==
In a potentially transformative transaction, Consensys announced on August 25, 2020 that it had acquired Quorum, a variant of the Ethereum blockchain developed by JPMorgan Chase & Co.. The company said it would merge its existing protocol with Quorum, allowing it to choose the best of both protocols. The bank made an investment in Consensys of an undisclosed amount at the same time. The company said that J.P. Morgan will be a customer for the advanced features that are developed.
When Microsoft told its Azure Blockchain customers in May 2021 that it was exiting the blockchain business later that year, it pointed customers to Quorum as an alternative. In its migration guide, Microsoft noted that Consensys already supported Azure as ledger technology. It further noted that Consensys's Quorum entails no extra management overhead nor additional learning.
== Central Bank Digital Currency Development ==
In September 2020 the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced that it had chosen Consensys to assist Hong Kong in creating a cross-border central bank digital currency (CBDC) with Thailand.
In October 2020, Consensys announced via a blog post that Societe Generale - Forge, the digital capital markets arm of the French bank Societe Generale - had selected Consensys to provide technology and expert support services to the bank to aid in its development of a CBDC pilot.
== References ==
Category:Ethereum
Category:CryptoMarketsWiki
Category:Cryptocurrency
Category:Blockchain