Canadian entrepreneur and software engineer Joseph Lubin helped spearhead the development of the open-source smart contract blockchain platform that came to be known as Ethereum. Lubin has long believed that this technology could serve “as an organizing principle for earth, the world, the planet.” As one of the wealthiest and most influential public figures in the industry, Lubin founded ConsenSys, a company that develops Ethereum-based products and tools to increase adoption of Ethereum applications around the world, taking the view that the decentralized future is already here — just unevenly distributed. Early life and career Joe Lubin was born in …

According to an all-new report released earlier this week, banking giant JP Morgan is currently in the process of facilitating a merger of its in-house blockchain unit called Quorum with Ethereum-based software developer ConsenSys. The deal is currently under negotiation and is likely to be finalized by the end of Q3 2020. Quorum is a blockchain-based network that has been built atop the Ethereum ecosystem. It currently serves as the foundation for JP Morgan’s Interbank Information Network, a decentralized network that connects more than 300 banks and financial institutions, allowing them to exchange a host of information related to payments. …

Activate is making its inaugural token launch with Skale Network, according to a Feb. 11 press release. Activate is a token launch platform developed by ConsenSys Codefi, which seeks to jumpstart the actual usage of new networks. The platform was announced in October 2019, and it was created specifically to bootstrap adoption for new projects. Its first launch partner and inaugural project is Skale Network, a smart contract platform based on Ethereum. What is Activate? While Activate shares several features with initial coin offering (ICO) platforms such as CoinList and Binance Launchpad, its team is adamant in its wish to …

The blockchain world may soon be seeing a major merger with the traditional financial sector. JPMorgan Chase, the United States’ largest bank, is reportedly considering merging its in-house blockchain unit Quorum with major Ethereum-focused firm ConsenSys. According to a Reuters report on Feb. 11, unnamed persons familiar with the matter claim that the merger is likely to be officially announced within the next six months. The financial terms of the deal reportedly remain to be worked out. Ethereum ties are a plus Quorum is JPMorgan’s private blockchain platform built on the Ethereum protocol, and reportedly has roughly 25 employees deployed …

Blockchain software company Consensys let go of an additional chunk of its staff while splitting its focus in two separate directions. Consensys cut its employee base down by roughly 14%, the company announced on Feb. 4 in a press release. Headquartered in New York, Consensys has also decided to split the company. Part of the operation will continue in the software sector while the other part pursues investment endeavors, the press release said. More layoffs Job cuts are nothing new to Consensys as the company previously headlined multiple stories regarding staff reductions. Rumors circulated in December 2018 surrounding a possible …

ConsenSys, a major blockchain firm founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, has acquired an American broker-dealer, Heritage Financial Systems. Heritage, a broker-dealer registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has been acquired by ConsenSys’s own broker-dealer, ConsenSys Digital Securities. ConsenSys’ blockchain-powered commerce and finance arm ConsenSys Codefi announced the news on Feb. 4. Heritage acquisition to bolster ConsenSys advisory and broker-dealer capabilities By purchasing Heritage, ConsenSys intends to reinforce its advisory and broker-dealer capabilities that will help the firm to implement blockchain technology for issuing tokenized bonds offerings in the municipal market. Emma Channing, a representative of …

Covantis, a blockchain initiative backed by global agribusiness giants like Cargill, has selected major Ethereum-focused firm ConsenSys as a technology partner. Within the partnership, ConsenSys will build an Ethereum-based blockchain platform to digitize the post-trade finance industry and bring efficiencies and cost savings to the international agribusiness supply chain, Covantis said in a Jan. 23 press release. Four agribusiness giants established the initiative in 2018, while Covantis’ name came out months ago The concept of Covantis was established in October 2018, when four of the biggest global agribusinesses companies announced a joint initiative to digitize their global shipping transactions using …

Ethereum’s Serenity will launch by the end of this year, according to ConsenSys Co-founder Andrew Keys. Given the current state of development though, few share his excitement. In a Jan. 7 post published on the ConsenSys site, Andrew Keys shared his predictions for 2020. Keys was one of the co-founders of ConsenSys, having since become a managing partner at DARMA Capital. While Keys’ predictions touched diverse themes ranging from the world economy to human rights, two are especially notable for their optimism. According to the executive, “2020 will see Ethereum move stridently beyond Phase 0 of Ethereum 2.0, onto Phase …

A Jan. 8 post published by the Ethereum Foundation (EF) revealed that developers are working on a new implementation of the Vyper compiler, due to “multiple serious bugs” in the existing version. The Vyperlang team responded by noting that existing Vyper smart contracts were not affected by these bugs. Vyper is an alternative programming language for Ethereum originally conceived by Vitalik Buterin. It focuses on being as human-readable as possible, even at the cost of missing some of the more advanced features found in Solidity, the primary language. While initially part of the main Ethereum (ETH) code stack, it has …

The cryptocurrency sector has many criticisms. One is that it can appear impenetrable to newcomers. Another is that it is probably easier to lose money investing in crypto than in most other areas of finance. What’s more, these issues can combine to create a lucrative environment for hackers with nefarious intentions. Chrome browser extension makes a stink By virtue of the fluctuations and hype that influence the markets, investors are often highly motivated to buy certain cryptocurrencies. Regardless of their background, all face the same initial hurdles: Where to buy the cryptocurrency and where to store it? Due in part …

A contributor of major Ethereum browser extension Metamask has reported that the MetaMask team is “totally overwhelmed” and not being prioritized by its parent company ConsenSys. In a Dec. 25 Reddit post, Reddit user lazaridiscom3 alleges that the MetaMask team is not getting the support it needs from ConsenSys, and, consequently, the whole team of 24 employees is overwhelmed. Redditor says the Ethereum’s “critical value-moving piece” isn’t decentralized The post, titled “Help MetaMask out of its Activity-Trap,” goes on to say that the MetaMask team has a number of unsolved issues and its inner workflow structure is neither transparent nor …

After crypto prices went through the roof in 2017, an eruption of new tokens, companies and products occured. With such a high level of consumer and corporate interest, many promising projects were inevitably lost in the crowd. Fortunately enough, some of cryptocurrency’s biggest names offer their services to a select few projects that are they have deemed promising. Companies that pick and nurture these future projects are known as incubators. Since mid-2018, many fortunate companies have been guided through their developmental stages by such companies. While being selected by a prominent incubator gives a company a huge advantage over its …