Microsoft will suddenly shut down Azure’s blockchain service. The blockchain as a service The Software Giant’s Platform (BaaS) will no longer be available from September 10. Microsoft has not made an official announcement or explained why.
Recently the service closure appeared in a document on Microsoft’s website and users noticed just a few days later:
Azure Blockchain Service appears to be no longer a thing
Glory to Embed a Tweet To find out.
– Tom Kerkhove (TomKerkhove) May 12, 2021
“On September 10, 2021, the Azure Blockchain will be discontinued. Migrate general ledger data from the Azure Blockchain service to an alternate offering based on development status in production or evaluation.”
The timing is pretty amazing. Several companies have made big announcements for Azure in recent days. Microsoft itself yesterday announced its collaboration with Mars to serve the blockchain:
We are partnering with Embed a Tweet To help the company apply the power of Azure to reimagine its business processes and accelerate digital transformation. https://t.co/dV3IK5pl8c
Satya Nadella May 13, 2021
Microsoft Azure even received a new slogan last week:
This is the cool new Microsoft Azure icon “A”, inspired by Fluent Design https://t.co/fZBi8rir4C #MicrosoftAzure #FluentDesign pic.twitter.com/YXIQNlxqjT
Naceron May 8, 2021
So what exactly is happening here is unclear to say the least. On the website, Microsoft recommends Azure users to switch to the Quorum blockchain service from Ethereum (ETH) developer ConsenSys. Users will have until September 10 to migrate.
Azure was created in 2015 in partnership with ConsenSys and has some major clients such as JPMorgan, Singapore Airlines, Starbucks and Xbox. It is also unclear what will happen to the Azure champions, one Non-exchangeable symbol (NFT) A project in collaboration with Enjin (ENJ).
