In a move that signaled the beginning of enterprise blockchain adoption, computing giant Microsoft announced a partnership with Ethereum development studio ConsenSys to launch Ethereum Blockchain-as-a-Service (E BaaS) on its Azure cloud platform, giving business users unprecedented access to tools for building on the Ethereum protocol.
TL;DR
- Microsoft teams up with ConsenSys to offer Ethereum Blockchain-as-a-Service on Azure
- Enterprise users can deploy private, semi-private, or public Ethereum networks with a single click
- Toolkit includes BlockApps Strato and Ether.Camp blockchain explorer
- Full unveiling planned for Ethereum’s DEVCON1 event in London on November 10
- Ethereum trading at approximately $1.00 as frontier network gains traction
A Strategic Enterprise Play
The partnership between Microsoft and ConsenSys represented one of the most significant endorsements of blockchain technology by a major technology corporation to date. Through the collaboration, business users of Microsoft’s cloud-based Azure service would gain access to Ethereum Blockchain-as-a-Service, enabling them to experiment with and deploy blockchain applications without the complexity of setting up their own infrastructure.
Marley Gray, Microsoft’s director of technology strategy for its US Financial Services division, emphasized the simplicity of the offering: “Our enterprise clients will have the ability to deploy private and semi-private or consortium blockchain networks, as well as public Ethereum nodes with a single click on Azure.”
The initiative was scheduled to be formally unveiled on November 10 at Ethereum’s DEVCON1 developer conference in London, an event that would bring together the brightest minds in the Ethereum ecosystem. The timing was strategic, positioning Microsoft at the center of the blockchain conversation just as Ethereum was transitioning from a niche experiment to a platform with genuine enterprise appeal.
The ConsenSys Connection
ConsenSys, headquartered in New York, was the brainchild of Ethereum Foundation co-founder Joseph Lubin. The collective had emerged from stealth mode in August 2015, focused on building tools and decentralized applications (DApps) on the Ethereum protocol. The organization had recently formed ConsenSys Enterprise specifically to address large-scale blockchain solutions for corporate clients.
Through the Azure toolkit, Microsoft’s customers would have access to several key tools. BlockApps’ full-stack application and blockchain builder, Strato, would allow enterprises to create custom blockchain applications. Ether.Camp, a blockchain explorer for Ethereum, would provide visibility into network activity and transactions.
Andrew Keys, director of enterprise business development and communications at ConsenSys, praised the partnership: “We’ve found Azure to be an efficient and powerful cloud to deploy our offerings and are looking forward to further collaboration with Microsoft. The initial offerings of BlockApps Strato and Ether.Camp will serve as foundational protocols and tools for developers to create blockchain applications immediately.”
Microsoft’s Growing Blockchain Interest
The Azure Ethereum offering was not Microsoft’s first foray into the cryptocurrency space. The company had begun accepting bitcoin for Xbox content and mobile purchases in late 2014, making it one of the largest technology companies to embrace the digital currency as a payment method. However, the Azure initiative represented a much deeper commitment to the underlying blockchain technology.
In August 2015, Microsoft’s director of technology and civic innovation, John Paul Farmer, had told reporters that currencies were the “least interesting” application of blockchain technology, signaling that the company’s ambitions extended far beyond payments into areas like supply chain management, identity verification, and smart contracts.
A Market in Its Infancy
The Microsoft-Azure announcement came at a time when the cryptocurrency market was still remarkably small by today’s standards. Bitcoin was trading at approximately $304, with a total market capitalization of around $4.5 billion. Ethereum, which had launched its frontier network just three months earlier in July 2015, was trading at roughly $1.00 with a market cap of just $74 million—making it the fourth-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, XRP, and Litecoin.
The total cryptocurrency market capitalization across all digital assets was approximately $4.8 billion, with the top five currencies being Bitcoin, XRP ($155 million market cap), Litecoin ($133 million), Ethereum ($74 million), and Dogecoin ($12.8 million). The entire altcoin space beyond Bitcoin was worth less than many individual tech startups of the era.
Why This Matters
Microsoft’s decision to offer Ethereum Blockchain-as-a-Service on Azure was a watershed moment for enterprise blockchain adoption. It legitimized Ethereum as more than just a cryptocurrency—positioning it as a platform for building the decentralized applications and smart contracts that would eventually power DeFi, NFTs, and much of the Web3 ecosystem. The partnership with ConsenSys also laid the groundwork for the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, which would formally launch in early 2017 with dozens of major corporations. At the time, with Bitcoin at $304 and Ethereum at just $1.00, few could have predicted how transformative these early enterprise experiments would become. The tools announced in October 2015—simple one-click deployment of blockchain networks on a major cloud platform—represented the first bridge between the cypherpunk vision of decentralized computing and the corporate world that would eventually pour billions into the space.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Past events and prices do not predict future outcomes.