ConsenSys acquires JP Morgan’s blockchain platform Quorum

ConsenSys, the Brooklyn-based blockchain software company—that funds an editorially independent Decrypt—has acquired Quorum, an enterprise-grade variant of the Ethereum blockchain developed by JP Morgan, according to an announcement published today.

Consequently, the company now plans to merge its existing protocol engineering roadmap with Quorum.

“All Enterprise Ethereum protocol technology at ConsenSys will fall under the ConsenSys Quorum brand, and developers will have the option to choose their underlying technology stack,” explained the announcement.

At the same time, while Quorum will continue to be an open-source project, it will also become interoperable with other ConsenSys’s products such as Codefi’s finance and commerce application suite. In its turn, JP Morgan will be a customer of ConsenSys’ advanced features and services deployed on Quorum, the company added.

“Even before the very first block on Ethereum was mined and ConsenSys was formed, we’ve collaborated with JP Morgan on Ethereum proofs of concept and production systems. We are enormously excited to onboard Quorum into the ConsenSys Enterprise Ethereum stack,” said Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys.

Coinciding with the acquisition of Quorum, the companies also announced JP Morgan’s new strategic investment in ConsenSys “to help developers build next-generation networks and enable enterprises to launch more powerful financial infrastructure.”

While the specifics of the deal were not disclosed, The Block’s sources have previously estimated that “JP Morgan was looking to invest $20 million as part of a broader $50 million deal.”

As Decrypt reported, the VC arm of ConsenSys and computer hardware company AMD also announced the completion of a $20.5 million funding round in late June for a network of decentralized cloud computing data centers.