Microsoft Adds More Blockchains To Azure Service

The list of participating partners for Microsoft’s cloud-based blockchain platform that runs on Azure has grown with new partners announced to support the initiative, reports said on Thursday (March 24).

The service, which runs on the Microsoft Azure platform, is expanding at a “very rapid pace,” according to Microsoft Director of BizDev and Strategy of Cloud and Enterprise Marley Gray, who announced the new partnerships in a blog post late last week.

The new partners are a slew of alternative blockchains, including Algorythmix, Expanse, Influx, Monero, Radium and Tendermint.

The Blockchain-as-a-Service tool, which connects program developers to blockchain technology to develop solutions, was first integrated with Ethereum.

In addition to the new blockchains added to the solution, Gray also announced new categories for developers to work within: Certified Marketplace, Template library, DevTest labs and Artifact repo.

“The template will automatically set up your lab with the most popular lab settings and include the library of existing Blockchain-as-a-Service partner offerings,” explained Gray. “The library of blockchain artifacts is kept up to date so you will know when new distributed ledger platforms, tools and services become available.”

Microsoft first launched its Blockchain-as-a-Service portal last November in collaboration with ConsenSys, which provides ways for financial services players to develop solutions using the distributed ledger technology of Ethereum.

Gray spoke with media reporters earlier this year to promote Microsoft’s efforts in this space.

“We see a huge opportunity here,” the executive told NewsBTC in January. “Enterprise-scale and enterprise-grade infrastructure is going to be vitally important for this financial infrastructure that will be woven using blockchain over the next few years.”

He added that Microsoft hopes its services will help developers introduce blockchain-based solutions into the real world so the broader market can experiment with the technology.