In early 2017, a major milestone occurred in the cryptocurrency industry when the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was announced. The alliance was first created between the Ethereum Foundation, Microsoft, and J.P. Morgan Chase to offer business initiatives on the ethereum network. The news that these two major players had joined together to create incentives for businesses development on top of the Ethereum blockchain was powerful. The announcement of this partnership was one of the driving factors that led to the cryptocurrency rush we saw begin in May of 2017.
The news of the partnership is actually much more significant than many people realize. It became clear that cryptocurrency was becoming a viable investment after learning about the alliance. However, what many people didn't realize was Bill Gates' personal history with digital currency. Gates had tried hard at taking a digital currency company called DigiCash public, offering to implement the currency into every version of Windows 95. That is a great story in itself, you can read more about it here. The importance of Gates' role as an advocate for digital currency should not be overlooked. As one of the world's most powerful men, one who has been at the forefront of every technological innovation of our time, his role in the Ethereum Alliance could prove pivotal to the cryptocurrency industry.
Several months after the announcement of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, there are now 34 new members that have joined the organization to support and back Ethereum related developments and initiatives. There are currently over 150 members of the EEA with some important new additions, including ING, Intel, Accenture, BP, Credit Suisse, Deloitte, Scotiabank, and even the Indian Government.
MasterCard and Cisco are two of the most significant new members to join the EEA, their entry was announced back in mid-July. How MasterCard is considering utilizing Ethereum is still unknown, but there are many schools of thought on the subject. It is entirely possible that MasterCard may be planning an Ethereum-based card, which could potentially mean a partnership between themselves and the popular ethereum asset TenX. TenX is one of the largest ethereum assets, developed to solve one of the biggest problem the cryptocurrency industry faces: making it spendable. If MasterCard were to come out and endorse TenX, that would be a huge win for the EEA and the cryptocurrency community as a whole.