A blockchain startup named Tron (opens in new tab) has bought file sharing company BitTorrent (opens in new tab) for a reported sum of $126 million (opens in new tab) (about £96 million, AU$170 million).
According to a statement (opens in new tab) BitTorrent's will continue to operate from Tron's offices in San Francisco, "pursuing its vision for the world’s largest decentralized ecosystem."
Cutting out the middle man
Tron is essentially a decentralized platform for sharing entertainment content, including music and games. By using blockchain and peer-to-peer network technology, it aims to cut out the middle man between content producers and consumers (ie the tech giants like Google and Amazon).
BitTorrent is one of the biggest names in peer-to-peer file sharing, with 100 million users. It was founded in 2004, long before reliable, fast broadband made streaming music and movies feasible, and owns both its own branded torrent client and uTorrent (opens in new tab) (the latter of which is the most popular client software outside China).
The two clients are free to download, and supported by ads. Last month BitTorrent published a statement (opens in new tab) to assure users that it wouldn't be changing its business model to enable mining of cryptocurrency – possibly in preparation for its acquisition by Tron, which has its own TRX currency.
Via Engadget (opens in new tab)
