Chain, a San Francisco-based blockchain technology company, has joined Microsoft Azure ecosystem, which will allow developers to install Chain Core (Chain’s distributed ledger) in Azure or locally to start or join a blockchain network, build financial applications, and access in-depth technical documentation and tutorials.

Marley Gray, Principle Program Manager, Azure Blockchain Engineering, made the announcement in a blog post. He said:

“I'm excited to announce that Chain is LIVE on Azure. Microsoft is a host sponsor of the Chain testnet along with the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Contracts (IC3), a collaboration of Cornell University, Cornell Tech, UC Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Technion.”

“Through this partnership you have the option to run your own prototypes on the testnet or create your own private network on Azure, all with a single click.”

Earlier in June, Gray introduced Project Bletchley, which outlined Microsoft’s vision for an open, modular blockchain fabric powered by Azure. Last month, Microsoft announced the next phase of our support of blockchain on Microsoft Azure with the launch of an early version of the Bletchley v1 infrastructural substrate.

“Adding Chain as a first class citizen on Azure demonstrates Project Bletchley's open blockchain approach aimed at providing enterprise services through a Blockchain Fabric allowing choice in platform for building out next generation solutions on distributed ledger technology”, Gray added. “We are proud to welcome Chain and are excited about future partners releasing into the marketplace in the near future.”

Founded in 2014, Chain is a technology company that partners with leading organizations to build, deploy, and operate blockchain networks that enable breakthrough financial products and services. It is the author of the Chain Protocol, which powers the award-winning Chain Core blockchain platform. The company recently released Chain Core Developer Edition, a free and open source version of its distributed ledger platform that enables organizations to issue and transfer assets on permissioned blockchain networks.