BitPay Joins Microsoft’s Azure Blockchain As A Service Platform

Microsoft on Monday provided an update on the latest progress made in Azure Blockchain as a service (BaaS) in a blog post. The tech giant announced four new partners that have signed up for BaaS which includes bitcoin payment processor BitPay; proof-of-ownership blockchain service Emercoin; blockchain rewards platform Manifold Technology; and bitcoin tax service LibraTax.

Marley Gray, US financial services strategy director, made the announcement in a blog post. He said, “We are looking forward to adding our new partner offerings into the marketplace as we transition into the Azure Portal over the next several weeks. We hope to welcome new partners into the Azure Blockchain Ecosystem soon!”

CoinDesk reported that BitPay, with over $32 million raised in venture capital funding, is the best-funded startup to join the Azure blockchain offering. The company told CoinDesk that Bitcore, its open-source bitcoin full node and development service, will be the offering that is added to the platform.

Partners on the Microsoft service already include CoinPrism, ConsenSys, Eris Industries and Factom. Last month, Gray said that the company is exploring how Ripple’s Interledger Protocol can be used by the Azure enterprise and developer community to improve its BaaS offering.