Here is a different way of getting at the same set of issues: Why does Microsoft need Qora to sign anything at all if they can just clone the project and run their own version?

One answer to this question is: A project is only viable if it has investors/users who will secure the network and build applications on it or use it.

So, my cynical side says that MS would like to use the Qora dev team and current investors/users in order to test out possible uses for this technology. When it has proven its worth, MS will simply use the existing Qora blockchain for its own purposes. It would have to provide incentives to the current users so they don't all try to sell and leave the network unsecure, but MS has the deep pockets to do this. Technically, though, I am not sure how it would work.

Some of my best guesses about what is happening or likely to happen with Azure projects are based on my admittedly limited experience in software development. In the 1990s and 2000s, MS would identify interesting pieces of software that they wanted to add to their suite. They would make a reasonable offer to a company, usually a startup. The offer would essentially be, "We would like to pay you X amount of money for all of your code and developers. This is a good offer. If you refuse to sell to us, then we will design our own product that duplicates yours, and in two years we will easily outcompete you and you will be out of business. So what would you like to do?"