The company behind the BitTorrent protocol, and the uTorrent client, has been acquired by blockchain startup Tron. CEO of Tron, Justin Sun, announced the acquisition on Twitter. In June there were already some rumors that Tron would be interested in BitTorrent Inc.
Proud to announce @BitTorrent and @uTorrent are now part of the #TRON family. BitTorrent is supported by over 100M active users. Together we are building the future of the decentralized Internet! Stay tuned for updates #TRONBT $TRX @Tronfoundation https://t.co/mQQqUeOaHv pic.twitter.com/eSYY4lWsXI
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) July 24, 2018
Tron paid $140 million for the company and it will move BitTorrent Inc. to a new office in San Francisco from where the developers will work together. With the acquisition, Tron also became the owner of the uTorrent software.
BitTorrent technology is used by many users, however it's especially popular amongst internet pirates who illegally download movies, series and music. BitTorrent Inc. searched for several ways to monetize their technology legally but it never really took off.
Blockchain startup Tron was founded by Justin Sun who also founded the Ripple cryptocurrency. The company is working on building a decentralized internet.
