ConsenSys

Founded in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, ConsenSys is a blockchain company based in Brooklyn, New York, that develops infrastructure and decentralized applications (dapps) for the Ethereum blockchain.

ConsenSys has incubated some of the most-used Ethereum apps, including the popular Chrome extension wallet Metamask, next-generation identity tool uPort, prediction market Gnosis, and Infura, used by hundreds of Ethereum apps for faster infrastructure.

There are five major branches of ConsenSys, each aimed at building the infrastructure of dapps. ConsenSys Labs is an accelerator and venture arm of the company aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and developers in early-stage blockchain projects. ConsenSys Academy is an online end-to-end developer course that helps people get started coding on the blockchain. The job kit provides a variety of resources about the skills needed to become a developer as well as where to get started.

ConsenSys Solutions works with businesses around the world to build, test, and launch blockchain-based solutions for their companies. ConsenSys Diligence is designed to protect the Ethereum ecosystem through security, legal and technical guidance. Finally, ConsenSys organizes a global conference series, Ethereal Summit.

ConsenSys Labs, a $50 million blockchain venture fund, was launched in 2017. Its aim is to help founders in the space by giving them capital and networking opportunities through an accelerator program – all with the goal of creating web3, a decentralized web built on the Ethereum network. At the end of 2018, ConsenSys had more than 50 ventures under its umbrella.

In 2016, ConsenSys partnered with Microsoft in order to build dapps in Microsoft’s Visual Studio programming platform. Together, they created an extension for the platform to allow smart-contract development in the Solidity programming language (which Ethereum is written in) in Microsoft’s Visual Studio programming platform.In December 2018, ConsenSys laid off 13 percent of its staff. At the company’s height that year, ConsenSys employed over 1,000 people. In 2019, it formed a partnership with Hyperledger and launched Codefi, a suite for decentralized finance solutions, but was forced to cut back 90 more staff in April 2020. ConsenSys is reportedly working with Hong Kong Monetary Authority on a cross-border central bank digital currency (CBDC).

By John Metais and Alyssa Hertig