The world’s largest cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC), is not going to change the world as it is just a store of value, Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz said at ConsenSys’ Ethereal Summit on May 11. Major bitcoin bull and former Wall Street exec Novogratz made his comments during a speech entitled “The Herd Is Still Coming!” at the industry event, which Cointelegraph attended as a media partner. Starting with bitcoin, “as it came first,” Novogratz claimed that the coin has “really establishing itself as a store of value,” noting that it is “kind of finished” in terms of fulfilling its use …

Ethereum founders Joseph Lubin and Vitalik Buterin and their respective organizations ConsenSys and the Ethereum Foundation are each donating 1,000 ether (ETH) to the Moloch decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). This donation brings the organization's total funds up to $1 million, a Cointelegraph correspondent learned at the Ethereal Summit on May 10. The stated objective of Moloch DAO, created by Ameen Soleimani — the CEO of the Ethereum-based adult token platform Spankchain — aims to crowdsource funding for shared, open-source Ethereum infrastructure. Moloch DAO states: “Our objective is to accelerate the development of public Ethereum infrastructure that many teams need but …

Joseph Lubin, founder of blockchain tech company ConsenSys, expressed his pessimism regarding the recent situation with cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex, Bloomberg reported on May 9. Speaking at the Fluidity Summit conference, Lubin said that “it seems like a really big mess that probably won’t get better. Tether is somewhat important to our ecosystem because it’s used by different institutions to effect more fluid trading.” Lubin noted however, that the turmoil surrounding Tether and Bitfinex could drive growth in other stablecoins: “There are other price-stable tokens out there — many others — and I think they’re going to gain traction because …

New York-based blockchain company ConsenSys is restructuring its various operations to shore up its market presence as it seeks $200 million in funding, a press release confirmed on May 6. In a move which will also see the departure of a founding executive, ConsenSys will consolidate ConsenSys Labs, accelerator Tachyon and VC operation, ConsenSys Ventures, under one umbrella investment arm. ConsenSys Ventures, which launched in September 2017, will no longer have Kavita Gupta at its helm, she confirmed to cryptocurrency news outlet The Block on Monday. “To continue to scale our investment activities, we need to consolidate systems and operations …

This article has been updated to include comments from Truffle CEO and founder Tim Coulter. Truffle is integrating with AxCore, a proprietary blockchain jointly created by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan-supported Axoni, Truffle CEO and founder Tim Coulter told Cointelegraph in an email. The ConsenSys spinoff, which makes tools that are widely used by Ethereum developers, has raised $3 million as it aims to expand into enterprise-grade solutions. According to Coulter, Truffle is going to use the investment to complete a suite of blockchain development tools that are designed to appeal to enterprise clients. An estimated 60% of Truffle’s revenue currently …

R/GA Ventures, the investment arm of international marketing company R/GA, is opening a blockchain investment studio in Oregon, the company announced in a press release published on April 24. The studio, dubbed Oregon Enterprise Blockchain Venture Studio (OEBVS), will be launched in partnership with several local companies participating in the blockchain industry. Namely, the release cites Moda, Umpqua Bank, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, Business Oregon, ConsenSys and blockchain research firm Smith + Crown. Per the release, OEBVS aims to build a blockchain-based ecosystem and help the local businesses and institutions compete globally. The studio will reportedly …

The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) has launched a blockchain-neutral Token Taxonomy Initiative in partnership with major firms, according to a press release from EEA on April 17. The initiative will seek to define tokens in non-technical and cross-industry terms in a bid to drive enterprise token adoption at scale. The EEA describes itself “a member-driven standards organization whose charter is to develop open, blockchain specifications that drive harmonization and interoperability.” Members of the initiative reportedly include global consulting firm Accenture, major banks Santander and JPMorgan Chase, blockchain incubator ConsenSys, Big Four auditor EY, tech giants Intel, Microsoft and IBM, blockchain …

New York-based blockchain company ConsenSys is reportedly seeking investors to raise $200 million, technology media outlet The Information reported on April 15. According to sources familiar with the matter, ConsenSys is trying to attract outside investors to raise $200 million. The company’s executives reportedly talked to investors in Hong Kong and South Korea, however as of early April ConsenSys had purportedly not yet found a lead investor. The Information cited fundraising documents, revealing that ConsenSys closed 2018 with just $21 million in revenue coming mostly from its enterprise consulting business. Per the documents, ConsenSys is planning its revenue to be …

The European Union announced the launch of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA) on its official website on April 3. According to a Cointelegraph representative who attended today’s ceremony at the European Commission in Brussels, the more than 100 members who have signed the charter include IBM, Accenture and Deutsche Telekom. Among the blockchain-related members number Iota, Ripple, ConsenSys, and the Sovrin Foundation. Per the announcement, INATBA aims to bring together industry startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), regulators and standard setting bodies to bring blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the mainstream. During the Brussels ceremony, …

French luxury goods giant Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) is reportedly working with ConsenSys and Microsoft Azure to develop a blockchain platform for tracking its products, crypto media agency CoinDesk reports on March 26. Dubbed AURA, the blockchain-powered platform is reportedly scheduled to go live in May or June 2019 with two major LVMH subsidiaries: Louis Vuitton and Parfums Christian Dior. Louis Vuitton is French fashion house founded in 1854 and known for its signature LV logo, while Parfums Christian Dior is the perfumery and cosmetics line of other French fashion house Christian Dior. According to the report, the …

The agricultural division of pharmaceutical and life science giant Bayer AG, Bayer CropScience, is collaborating with ConsenSys-backed Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup BlockApps. BlockApps revealed the news to Cointelegraph on March 22. Germany-based Bayer CropScience has been working on a number of blockchain initiatives with BlockApps since early 2018, a BlockApps spokesperson told Cointelegraph. One of the largest pharmaceutical firms globally, Bayer acquired American agrochemical and agricultural corporation Monsanto in June 2018. A BlockApps representative said that more details can be expected during Blockchain for Food and Beverage Supply Chain conference that is set to take place on March 26–27 in San …

Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys creator Joseph Lubin said that blockchain technology and decentralization can benefit content creators and journalists. Lubin spoke about different industries that are benefitting from blockchain technology in a video on March 12. In the video, Lubin said that artists are “set to benefit quite dramatically” from blockchain, as it allows them to attach policies and stipulations for how the content is consumed and shared i.e. derivative works, streaming, public performances, etc. In Lubin’s view, it also allows them to eliminate middlemen: “I think artists in the music industry on average capture about 11 or 12 percent …