Microsoft dives into Web3 with investment in Ethereum co-founder's start-up ConsenSys

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Blockchain start-up ConsenSys has raised $450 million in a new round of funding that more than doubles its valuation to $7 billion.

The cash injection was led by ParaFi Capital, ConsenSys said Tuesday, with Microsoft, Japan's SoftBank and Singapore's Temasek also joining as new investors in the company.

New York-headquartered ConsenSys was founded in 2014 by Joseph Lubin, a co-founder of Ethereum. Ethereum is the blockchain platform behind ether, the world's second-biggest cryptocurrency.

Whereas bitcoin is mostly used for transactions, Ethereum can be used to create decentralized applications, or dapps — think Facebook or TikTok, but on the blockchain, a shared record-keeping system for crypto transactions. ConsenSys develops software that runs on the Ethereum network.

It marks a rare crypto-related bet from Microsoft. The company previously led an early-stage investment in Palm NFT Studio, a start-up also co-founded by Lubin.

Microsoft's involvement highlights growing interest from the world's largest tech firms in Web3, a loosely-defined term that refers to efforts to create a decentralized version of the internet based on blockchain technology.

It's a term that has attracted a lot of chatter — and money — in Silicon Valley. Blockchain start-ups raised a record $25 billion in venture capital funding globally last year, according to CB Insights data. Other tech giants exploring Web3 include Facebook-parent Meta and Twitter.

ConsenSys is viewed by investors as one of the companies that will power Web3. It's benefited from a flood of investment into emerging crypto trends such as decentralized finance, or DeFi, and nonfungible tokens, otherwise known as NFTs.

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