Factom Price Soars after Integration with Microsoft's Azure Blockchain

Blockchains have eclipsed bitcoin in the mainstream media lately, largely due to financial institutions looking for ways to use blockchains. But in addition to these initiatives, some big technology companies are exploring Ripple, Factom and Ethereum protocols, according toFinance Magnates.

Microsoft’s Azure cloud service recently acquired Ethereum capabilities, followed by Factom, Ripple and others.

Factom Price Spikes And Holds

Azure’s embrace of Factom recently gave a big boost to its cryptocurrency, which crypto exchanges added for trade in October. Factom, an Austin, Texas-based data management software provider, jumped by more than 600% to nearly 0.002 BTC ($0.90) and these gains have largely held.

More than $1 million worth of Factom’s currency was traded in a recent 24-hour period, marking the third highest after bitcoin and litecoin. Factom’s $5.5 million market cap now ranks at number 12.

Something similar happened 14 months ago when Overstock’s “cryptosecurity” project tried the Counterparty platform, which boosted its XCP currency before it declined when its participation in the project ended

Microsoft partnered with ConsenSys, an Ethereum-based startup to provide blockchain as an enterprise solution for Azure, CCN recently reported. Brooklyn, N.Y.-based ConsenSys is an Ethereum coder collective that allows Azure enterprise users to gain access to Ethereum’s Blockchain-as-a-Service.

Will the Factom rally last? Two years ago, such jumps were nothing special. But today, these spikes could have a new significance in serving as a reminder for where the blockchain is going.

Factom raised $1.4 million from 10 investors as part of a planned $5 million seed financing last week, according to an SEC filing, reported The Austin Business Journal.

Also read: Microsoft adds Factom & CoinPrism as partners to its blockchain platform

Azure Utilizes Private Blockchains

Azure clients will also be able to use BlockApps, a private blockchain sandbox where developers can experiment with an application before releasing it to the Ethereum blockchain or elsewhere.

Ether.Camp, another blockchain explorer tool, will allow Azure clients to develop blockchain-based apps, possibly at a lower cost than those required elsewhere. Apps include cross-border payments, securities trading, corporate accounting with more transparency, self-executing smart contracts and more.

Microsoft, with a market capitalization of $430 billion, remains the largest company to offer bitcoin as a payment to consumers.

Chart from CoinMarketCap and Shutterstock.