Microsoft Azure has been joined by blockchain designing and implementing companies MultiChain and Netki in the BaaS (Blockchain-as-a-Service) project.

Technology Strategy Director of the US Financial Services at Microsoft Marley Gray has shared this information in the corporate blog. He also reminded about the existing partners of Azure.

MultiChain calls itself “an open platform for building blockchains”. It makes it possible for clients to design and deploy distributed ledgers, either open for many users or with restricted access, depending on the customer’s choice. The company also claims to facilitate connection to existing blockchains. According to the website, MultiChain provides customisable, extendable and bitcoin-compatible blockchains that are easy to build and to retain control of.

Public blockchains are unsuitable for enterprises, says MultiChain in its White Paper. The company opposes its own products to bitcoin, which possesses certain shortcomings connected with lack of privacy, mining risks, transaction cost and limited capacity which is caused by the bitcoin block size. MultiChain, by contrast, provides private blockchains and claims to solve the problem of mining, privacy and openness.

Netki offers solutions for the evolving digital currency ecosystem, “removing barriers to entry and working toward mass-market adoption.” The company aims to help “underbanked” individuals connect to the global financial market. The Netki Wallet Name Service “is designed to allow service providers to easily register Wallet Names on their client’s behalf,” writes Gray.

The partnership with MultiChain and Netki broadens the BaaS project which has already been joined by such active players as Emercoin, Eris, CoinPrism, Factom, LibraTax, Manifold Technology and BitPay. The BaaS toolkit was originally produced by Ethereum.

Andrew Levich