Consensys
Consensys is a software company that develops applications and infrastructure for Ethereum and compatible blockchains. The products and development work of Consensys include the MetaMask wallet, Infura developer infrastructure and the Linea network. A wallet lets users manage access to their blockchain accounts and authorize transactions from those accounts.
Users need wallet software to manage their accounts and interact with blockchain applications, while developers need interfaces for reading blockchain data and submitting transactions. Consensys provides these tools so an application team can connect to a network without operating every infrastructure component itself. Consensys also develops protocol software and contributes to Ethereum upgrades.
Consensys software for Ethereum
Consensys says it is building "the consumer platform, developer infrastructure, and protocol software for the future global economy." Consensys has more than 700 staff and was founded in November 2014 by Joseph Lubin. Products from Consensys sit at different layers of Ethereum. Infura gives developers access to Ethereum nodes, MetaMask is a self-custodial wallet, and Linea is the zkEVM layer-2 network from Consensys, launched in its words "to strengthen Ethereum."
Two products touch payments directly. The MetaMask Card lets a user spend tokens wherever Mastercard is accepted, and MetaMask USD, announced in August 2025, is described by Consensys as the first stablecoin from a self-custodial wallet. Consensys was also among the founding board members of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance in 2017, next to J.P. Morgan, BNY Mellon and CME Group.
Quorum: the bank blockchain from J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan built Quorum as "an enterprise-variant of the Ethereum blockchain" for permissioned networks between banks. On 25 August 2020, Consensys took over Quorum, J.P. Morgan made a strategic investment in Consensys, and the bank stayed on as a customer of Consensys services on Quorum. Quorum remained open source. The blockchain unit of J.P. Morgan, then called Onyx, is today Kinexys and issues the deposit token JPM Coin.
Consensys and the Swift ledger
At Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, Swift announced a blockchain-based shared ledger for its infrastructure, with real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments as the first use case and more than 30 financial institutions in the design group. Swift built the conceptual prototype with Consensys. The ledger records, sequences and validates transactions and enforces rules through smart contracts, and Swift states it runs next to the existing payment rails. The Swift blockchain ledger covers the later MVP phase with tokenized deposits.
Upcoming blockchain and payments events
The Swift ledger and Finance Loop at Sibos
During Sibos 2025, the conference where Swift announced its ledger, Finance Loop organized the Sibos side event at TechQuartier, across the street from Messe Frankfurt. Frankfurt Main Finance and OKX Institutional presented the evening for people in payments, banking, stablecoins and digital assets.
Payments & Digital Money
Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty
What does Consensys do?
Consensys writes software for Ethereum: the MetaMask wallet, the Infura node service, the Linea layer-2 network and the Quorum client that banks use for permissioned Ethereum networks. Consensys also built the prototype of the Swift blockchain-based ledger.
Did Consensys buy Quorum from J.P. Morgan?
Consensys acquired Quorum from J.P. Morgan in August 2020. J.P. Morgan invested in Consensys in the same deal and remained a customer of Consensys services on Quorum.
What role does Consensys have in the Swift ledger?
Swift developed the conceptual prototype of its blockchain-based shared ledger with Consensys. Swift then took the design into an MVP with banks that plan live payments using tokenized deposits.
Is Linea part of Consensys?
Linea is the zkEVM layer-2 network that Consensys launched on top of Ethereum. A layer-2 network bundles transactions and settles them on Ethereum, which lowers the cost of each payment.
Payments on shared ledgers
Consensys and Finance Loop
Finance Loop organized a side event during Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, the conference where Swift announced its ledger prototype built with Consensys. Bank payments on shared ledgers belong to the Finance Loop Payments & Digital Money track, and Ethereum networks such as Linea to Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.