New York-based blockchain startup ConsenSys has acquired Quorum, an enterprise blockchain platform developed by JPMorgan Chase. The news comes as JPMorgan made an undisclosed strategic investment in ConsenSys, which was founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin.

Why should we care?
JPMorgan Chase built the Quorum blockchain using the Ethereum network, which underpins cryptocurrency ether. A possible acquisition by ConsenSys has been in the news for months. Among its applications, Quroum supports the Interbank Information Network, a payments network involving more than 300 banks, and JPM Coin, the bank’s prototype digital currency. Quorum could thrive better in the hands of a software and services oriented organization, Umar Farooq, JPMorgan’s global head of blockchain, told Reuters. With the acquisition, JPMorgan becomes a customer of Consensys, and Quorum, which will remain open-source, can grow reach and interoperability. “This is textbook open-source ‘co-opetition’ at its finest, where competitors can realize they’re actually stronger working together than trying to divide a market,” Brian Behlendorf, executive director at Hyperledger, told Coindesk. Since the launch of Quorum in 2016, ConsenSys and JPMorgan have collaborated on various Ethereum-based initiatives.