Microsoft dives into Web3 with investment in Ethereum co-founder’s start-up ConsenSys
Blockchain start-up ConsenSys has raised $450 million in a new round of funding that more than doubles its valuation to $7 billion.
The cash injection was led by ParaFi Capital, ConsenSys said Tuesday, with Microsoft, Japan’s SoftBank and Singapore’s Temasek also joining as new investors in the company.
New York-headquartered ConsenSys was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum. Ethereum is the blockchain platform behind ether, the world’s second-biggest cryptocurrency.
Whereas bitcoin is mostly used for transactions, Ethereum can be used to create decentralized applications, or dapps — think Facebook or TikTok, but on the blockchain, a shared record-keeping system for crypto transactions. ConsenSys develops software that runs on the Ethereum network.