Microsoft and T-Mobile Join the Cascadia Blockchain Council

Microsoft and T-Mobile have joined a group of entrepreneurs, institutions, and other tech giants to create a new hub for the booming blockchain industry in the Pacific Northwest.

According to a report from GeekWire, the lot have joined the Cascadia Blockchain Council in order to give blockchain organizations a unified voice around public policy and marketing.

Blockchain technology, while young in a historical sense, has seen unprecedented growth in the past 6 to 8 years.

According to a report from GeekWire, the council was founded by enterprise players such as Microsoft and T-Mobile, blockchain startups Strix Leviathan, Bittrex, and CryptoSlate, as well as organizations like the Washington State Department of Commerce, the University of Washington, and the Washington Technology Industry Association.

While the organization itself was formed three months ago, its official website launched on Mar. 28th.Cascadia Blockchain Council Believes in Technology's Potential.

During a conference hosted by TF Blockchain in Seattle on Thursday, Arry Yu, the blockchain council chair at the WTIA, said that she believes blockchain has the ability to bring people together.

According to the council's website, Pamela Dingle, director of identity standards at Microsoft, and Chris Spanton, senior architect of blockchain at T-Mobile, will be representing the area's biggest companies.

Another reason behind the creation of the council is the fact that investments in blockchain companies are healthy despite the ongoing crypto winter.

In the first two months of 2019 alone, a variety of venture capital firms poured more than $100 million into blockchain firms, a Pitchbook report found.

"There is so much pent up demand for blockchain. People don't realize how much is going on in Washington," Lawrence Lerner, CEO at blockchain investment firm Pithia and a member of the council said at the conference.