In a move that would prove pivotal for enterprise blockchain adoption, Microsoft officially launched Ethereum Blockchain as a Service (EBaaS) on its Azure cloud platform in early November 2015, partnering with blockchain incubator ConsenSys to bring smart contract development tools to corporate clients worldwide. The announcement, published on November 9 and resonating through the crypto industry by November 12, marked the first time a major technology company offered blockchain infrastructure as a cloud-based service.
TL;DR
- Microsoft partnered with ConsenSys to launch Ethereum Blockchain as a Service (EBaaS) on Azure
- Two developer tools released: Ether.Camp IDE and BlockApps blockchain environment
- Service targets enterprise clients, especially in financial services
- Ethereum chosen over Bitcoin for its smart contract capabilities and Turing-complete programming language
- BTC traded at $338.15 and ETH at just $0.90 at the time of the launch
A Strategic Partnership Between Tech Giants and Blockchain Visionaries
Microsoft’s Enterprise Partner Group had been fielding questions about blockchain technology from its largest customers, particularly in financial services, for months. The demand was clear: corporations wanted to experiment with distributed ledger technology but lacked the infrastructure and tools to do so efficiently. Microsoft’s answer was to team up with ConsenSys, the blockchain venture production studio founded by Joseph Lubin, one of Ethereum’s co-founders.
The initial EBaaS offering included two core tools designed to accelerate smart contract development. Ether.Camp provided an integrated developer environment where programmers could write, test, and deploy Ethereum smart contracts without setting up complex local infrastructure. BlockApps offered a private and semi-private Ethereum blockchain environment that could also deploy into the public Ethereum network, giving enterprises the flexibility to test applications in isolation before going live.
Why Ethereum, Not Bitcoin?
Microsoft’s decision to build on Ethereum rather than Bitcoin was deliberate and telling. The Azure team explained that while Bitcoin had proven itself as a cryptocurrency platform, Ethereum offered the flexibility and extensibility that enterprise customers demanded. The key differentiator was Ethereum’s support for smart contracts and decentralized applications, powered by a Turing-complete programming language.
“Ethereum enables SmartContracts and Distributed Applications to be built, potentially cutting out the middleman in many industry scenarios streamlining processes like settlement,” Microsoft noted in its announcement. The company acknowledged that the full potential of combining cryptographic blockchain security with programmable smart contracts was still being discovered.
The Financial Services Opportunity
The EBaaS launch was squarely aimed at financial services firms, where blockchain technology was increasingly seen as both a disruptor and an opportunity. Microsoft positioned Azure as a comprehensive dev/test/production environment for blockchain applications, with the ability to integrate surrounding capabilities like Cortana Analytics, Power BI, Azure Active Directory, and Office 365.
For Ethereum, trading at just $0.90 on November 12, 2015, with a market capitalization of approximately $66.9 million, the Microsoft partnership represented extraordinary validation. Bitcoin, by comparison, was priced at $338.15 with a market cap of $5.02 billion. The total cryptocurrency market was still in its infancy, with the top five assets by market cap being Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Dash.
Implications for the Blockchain Ecosystem
The EBaaS launch signaled a broader shift in how enterprise technology companies viewed blockchain. Rather than treating it as a niche experiment, Microsoft was offering blockchain infrastructure alongside its mainstream cloud services. The one-click deployment model meant that developers could spin up a blockchain environment in minutes rather than days, dramatically lowering the barrier to entry.
ConsenSys’s involvement was equally significant. As one of the earliest and most prolific builders in the Ethereum ecosystem, the partnership lent credibility to the still-young platform. Ethereum had launched its Frontier release just months earlier in July 2015, and the network was still finding its footing. Having Microsoft as a platform partner would prove to be one of the most important early endorsements for Ethereum’s long-term trajectory.
Why This Matters
Looking back, Microsoft’s EBaaS launch on Azure in November 2015 was a watershed moment for enterprise blockchain adoption. It demonstrated that major technology companies were willing to invest real resources in blockchain infrastructure, not just experiment with proof-of-concepts. For Ethereum, the partnership provided crucial legitimacy during its earliest days, helping attract developers and enterprises who might otherwise have dismissed smart contract platforms as unproven technology. The tools and frameworks that emerged from this collaboration would lay the groundwork for years of enterprise blockchain development, and Ethereum’s price journey from under a dollar to thousands would eventually reflect the ecosystem’s explosive growth.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
Microsoft shut down EBaaS in 2019 proving enterprise blockchain was 3 years too early. the concept worked but the business model never materialized
shutting down EBaaS in 2019 was the right call for microsoft but terrible optics for ethereum enterprise adoption. took years to rebuild that credibility
ETH at $0.90 with Microsoft building dev tools for it. anyone who read this announcement and didnt at least buy a small bag missed the easiest signal ever
Albrecht M. easy to say in hindsight but in 2015 nobody knew if Ethereum would survive. Microsoft partnership was a signal not a guarantee
ether.camp IDE was genuinely useful in 2015. wrote my first smart contract in it after spending weeks trying to set up solc locally
ether.camp IDE on azure in 2015. wrote my first solidity contract there. the tooling was janky but it worked. wish they had kept it going instead of killing EBaaS in 2019
ETH at 0.90 and microsoft was literally giving developers free tools to build on it. the easiest buy signal in crypto history and maybe 500 people acted on it
microsoft consensys launch on azure in 2015 targeted enterprise smart contracts
microsoft going all in on ethereum in 2015 while most people had not even heard of smart contracts. say what you want about consensys but lubin played the long game
lubin had 6 people at consensys when this deal happened. going from that to running a multi-billion dollar operation off the back of an azure partnership is peak crypto hustle
azure_pioneer lubin had 6 people at consensys. microsoft had 100K+ employees. the power dynamic in that partnership was wildly asymmetric but lubin played it perfectly
eth at $0.90 when microsoft launched a product for it. the signal was right there
$0.90 and microsoft was literally building infrastructure for it. anyone who read this announcement and didnt buy has my respect for the discipline of missing the easiest trade ever
retro_trader ether.camp ide and blockapps tools helped early enterprise testing
ETH at $0.90 when Microsoft made this move. anyone who was paying attention back then made life-changing money. Azure integration was the first real signal that enterprise wasnt just kicking tires
EBaaS was honestly ahead of its time. half the companies that experimented with it in 2015 had no idea what to actually build. the tooling wasnt there yet
cloud_defi_kep EBaaS shutting down in 2019 was premature but the companies that experimented with it became the enterprise clients consensys landed later
ETH at $0.90 when the worlds largest software company is building tools for your blockchain. the ultimate buy signal that 99% of people ignored
azure blockchain as a service got shut down in 2019. microsoft proved the concept worked but couldnt figure out the business model. still legitimized ethereum for enterprises that were on the fence
microsoft shutting it down in 2019 was premature. enterprise blockchain needed another 3-4 years to find product market fit
prem s btc at 338 and eth at 0.90 during the launch feels ancient now
ETH at 90 cents with microsoft building dev tools. easy to say buy in hindsight but in 2015 ethereum was a science experiment to most people
ETH at 90 cents with Microsoft literally building dev tools for it. the easiest signal in crypto history and most people ignored it completely
Rasmus B. hindsight is brutal. but at the time Ethereum was a science experiment and Microsoft partnering with ConsenSys looked like a corporate PR stunt not a fundamental signal
Microsoft shutting down EBaaS in 2019 proved enterprise blockchain was 3 years too early. the tech worked but nobody needed a blockchain when a database was cheaper