Blockchain Startup Tron Closes BitTorrent Acquisition
A blockchain startup called Tron has closed its deal to buy the file-sharing service BitTorrent. Neither side disclosed how much Tron paid, but according to a report, the price was around $126 million in cash. Its staff will work out of Tron’s San Francisco office.
Tron founder Justin Sun says the deal makes his firm the “largest decentralized Internet ecosystem in the world.” BitTorrent said in a statement last month it “has no plans to change what we do or charge for the services we provide. We have no plans to enable mining of cryptocurrency now or in the future.” But it’s not clear what Tron’s plans for it will be going forward.
One thing’s for sure: the BitTorrent and uTorrent clients are not going away, nor should it’s more than 100 million active users have to start paying for the base service any time soon. It appears other apps and services BitTorrent has launched over the last few years, such as the ad-supported music and video app BitTorrent Now, could remain too. However, it’s unclear whether we’ll see future BitTorrent products, or if Tron will focus more on maintaining the current services and bolstering Tron’s own offerings.
Image Source: Bit Torrent
The acquisition closes a chapter in turbulent history. While it was committed to the notion of a decentralized internet, it still had to function as a business and attempts to find an app or service that helped BitTorrent turn the corner didn’t really work out. The situation was in such a mess a couple of years ago that the company fired its dual CEOs, while the company hadn’t raised any money since 2008.
Discuss this news on our Telegram Community. Subscribe to us on Google news and do follow us on Twitter @Blockmanity
Did you like the news you just read? Please leave a feedback to help us serve you better
Disclaimer: Blockmanity is a news portal and does not provide any financial advice. Blockmanity's role is to inform the cryptocurrency and blockchain community about what's going on in this space. Please do your own due diligence before making any investment. Blockmanity won't be responsible for any loss of funds.