IOTA and Microsoft: Clearing the Air on Misunderstandings

What Sparked the Confusion?

This week, the IOTA foundation found itself in a bit of a PR pickle after a quote from Microsoft was taken a tad too literally. The quote, plucked from a blog post about IOTA’s Data Marketplace, suggested an official partnership with Microsoft. And what did investors do? React like kids in a candy store, of course!

The Unquoted Reality

According to Omkar Naik, a Microsoft Blockchain specialist, the quote seemed harmless or at least positively misleading:

“We are excited to partner with the IOTA Foundation and proud to be associated with its new data marketplace initiative.”

Sounds good, but hold your horses!

Setting the Record Straight

IOTA co-founder Dominik Schiener took to email to clear the air and assert that IOTA has never claimed Microsoft is an official partner. Instead, he explained that they merely listed Microsoft alongside other Marketplace participants. “We have never mentioned that any of the companies which are participating in the marketplace are our ‘partners’. We call them participants,” said Schiener, proving that semantics can be a slippery slope.

What Is Microsoft’s Role?

If you were hoping for a glittering partnership, I’m sorry to disappoint. A Microsoft representative shared that IOTA is just an Azure customer and plans to use their services to test and deploy its Data Marketplace. But hey, that doesn’t mean they aren’t buddy-buddy; they’re working on several tech experiments, including connecting weather sensors to IOTA’s unique ledger technology.

IOTA Making Waves

Despite the clarity—or lack thereof—IOTA’s market share is strutting its stuff, soaring from $2.95 billion to over $13 billion following the Data Marketplace announcement. Schiener mentioned, “The launch of the data marketplace was just the beginning. This project will continue for several weeks and is multi-staged.”

So while the partnership gossip may have fizzled, IOTA is certainly not slowing down. Keep your eyes peeled for results from upcoming collaborations with other companies—not just Microsoft. The saga continues!