Consensys is a software development company focused predominantly on Ethereum, and operates a suite of products including MetaMask and Infura.
The stated vision of Consensys is to “transform the world’s digital architecture into a more open, inclusive, and secure internet of value and ownership: Web3.”
Consensys has grown to become one of the most well-established and recognizable companies in the blockchain segment, with their flagship product, the MetaMask wallet, attracting over 100 million users.
History of Consensys
Consensys was founded in 2015 by Joseph Lubin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum. Lubin founded Consensys as a software firm and incubator for decentralized applications (dapps) and services on Ethereum.
The company has worked with many different types of enterprises to develop blockchain-based solutions for real-world industries. In February 2017, it became a founding member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance which, at the time, included members like JPMorgan, BNY-Mellon, and Microsoft, and was born when crypto adoption was still in its infancy.
Like many crypto companies, Consensys has had to handle the rapid growth and contraction that comes with bull and bear markets and was forced to lay off staff during bear markets in 2018 and early 2023. However, in late 2022, the company secured $450 million in Series D funding.
Consensys has also more recently become embroiled in the long-running dispute between the US SEC and US crypto industry operators over the legal status of cryptocurrencies. In April 2024, the company filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against the SEC, outlining its case that the commission is not legally empowered to classify ETH as a security.
The company headquarters are located in Fort Worth, Texas, and as of 2024, Consensys employs around 500 people worldwide.
Consensys Products
Consensys has two primary offerings, the MetaMask wallet and Infura, which provides blockchain infrastructure-as-a-service.
MetaMask Wallet
MetaMask is the flagship user-facing product from Consensys – a non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet used to access a wide array of dapps across several blockchain ecosystems. MetaMask effectively acts as the gateway that enables users to interact with Web3 applications similarly to how a web browser enables access to the internet.
The first iteration of MetaMask was launched in 2016, and since then, it’s grown to become one of the most successful and well-adopted Web3 wallets, offering features that go beyond the pure crypto wallet functionality. Users can now onboard straight to crypto from fiat using a credit card and interact directly with NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, DeFi dapps like Uniswap and Aave, and Web3 games like Splinterlands.
MetaMask offers two different types of wallets – one for retail users and one for institutions. It also offers developer tools, such as APIs, allowing developers to integrate MetaMask into their applications.
Infura – Blockchain Infrastructure and Node-as-a-Service
Infura is an Ethereum node operator that offers blockchain infrastructure and tools to enable developers to build and launch their dapps. Access to a node is a prerequisite for running a dapp on Ethereum since it’s the only way of communicating with the network, but running a node is a costly operation. Therefore, Infura leases this capability as a service to developers, lowering the barriers to entry.
Infura started as an independent initiative in 2016, and eventually was acquired by Consensys in 2019. Having cornered the market, Infura began to suffer issues that are common in centralized services but that decentralized systems are supposed to avoid.
For example, in 2020 and 2022, Infura node outages led significant parts of the Ethereum ecosystem to stop working, including MetaMask, and resulted in exchanges suspending ERC-20 transactions. In late 2023, Consensys announced the launch of a Decentralized Infrastructure Network designed to support the decentralization of Infura following major criticism.
While Infura is predominantly focused on Ethereum, it now also offers services for deployment on other Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, including IPFS, Avalanche, Polygon, and Optimism.
Other Projects and Services
Linea is an EVM-compatible Layer 2 blockchain developed by Consensys. It uses zero-knowledge rollups to achieve scalability with high security. It launched on mainnet in 2023, and thanks to compatibility with a wide array of apps and services, it quickly rose in popularity to become one of the more popular Layer 2 networks by total value locked.
Consensys also provides staking services for enterprises and institutions via its Teku staking client.
Consensys Essentials
- Consensys is a software development firm that was established in 2015 to support the growth of the Ethereum ecosystem.
- Consensys is best known as the company behind the MetaMask wallet, a leading self-custodial Web3 wallet with over 100 million users.
- In 2019, the company also took over Infura, putting it in the position of being the leading provider of blockchain infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem.