ConsenSys Acquires Enterprise Blockchain Quorum From JPMorgan

ConsenSys, a major Ethereum (ETH) and blockchain software company, has today announced the acquisition of Quorum, an enterprise blockchain unit developed by the U.S. investment banking giant JPMorgan Chase, the company said in a press release shared with Cryptonews.com.

Quorum, an enterprise-variant of the Ethereum blockchain, has launched in 2016 and is used by several JPMorgan’s projects, including its messaging network for cross-border payments, the Interbank Information Network (IIN), used by more than 415 institutions across 78 countries, as well as its settlement coin JPM Coin.

According to the statement, JPMorgan will become a customer of ConsenSys services deployed on Quorum.

“The creation of Quorum was a first for J.P. Morgan, both in terms of developing its own blockchain protocol, and open sourcing software for the developer community. We’re incredibly proud of the usage of Quorum over the past few years and are excited to have ConsenSys as a partner to take the vision forward,” said Umar Farooq, Global Head of Blockchain, JPMorgan.

JPMorgan and ConsenSys have a lengthy history of collaboration as two leading companies in Enterprise Ethereum, and have led the creation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, Mainnet Ethereum client Hyperledger Besu, and several industry applications on the Quorum blockchain.

Following the acquisition of Quorum, ConsenSys will merge its existing roadmap with Quorum, and will offer a full range of products, services, and support for the network, thus accelerating its features and capabilities. Enterprise Ethereum protocol will fall under ConsenSys Quorum brand. Quorum will remain open source and will be interoperable with other ConsenSys’ blockchain products, stated the press release.

Commenting on the acquisition, Joseph Lubin, founder and CEO of ConsenSys, said that the company is “enormously excited to onboard Quorum” into its stack.

“We look forward to continuing our multifaceted partnership with J.P. Morgan for many years and ushering in an era of enterprise and mainnet compatibility,” he added.

Besides the ConsenSys’ acquisition of the Quorum, J.P. Morgan made a strategic investment of USD 20 million in ConsenSys as a part of USD 50 million convertible debt deal, as per The Block. According to the press release, it is meant to help developers build next-generation networks and launch a more powerful financial infrastructure.

Prior to the announcement, Cryptonews.com reported on a possible merger between Quorum and ConsenSys back in February. Earlier in May, JPMorgan welcomed cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini as its first crypto clients.