Entrepreneur Justin Sun, who is behind the crypto currency Tron, has reportedly acquired the company BitTorrent and thus µTorrent. Suns Tron Foundation strives to develop a more decentralized Internet.
According to Variety, BitTorrent employees were notified of the acquisition last week after documents revealed that a Justin Sun-founded company, Rainberry Acquisition, has merged with Rainberry Inc, parent company of BitTorrent. The acquisition has not yet been officially announced and an acquisition amount is not known either. Torrentfreak reported at the end of May that Sun had agreed a letter of intent with BitTorrent, although BitTorrent would also have been in talks with other companies for an acquisition.
Justin Sun is the creator of the increasingly popular Tron platform. With this platform, the Tron foundation behind it focuses on the distribution of entertainment and a decentralized network for the associated data. The altcoin Tronix, or TRX, is used for payments on the network. Tron was able to expand his network through giveaways, such as those for a Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and even a whole house. The organization now has more than 100 employees.
The white paper shows that Tron consists of several layers. On top is the layer of applications that users run. Below that is the blockchain part, with layers for smart contracts and consensus. Below that is the p2p data and network layer. Part of the p2p network layer is the already BitTorrent based BitSwap and it is likely that Sun acquired BitTorrent to further develop this part of the Tron platform. Ultimately, Tron must enable users to distribute documents, audio and video on Tron while managing the revenue themselves.
BitTorrent’s own plans to establish itself as a commercial audio and video distribution network have never had the success they had hoped for. The company was able to generate revenue by bundling software and advertisements in its µTorrent client. The creator of BitTorrent and longtime CEO of the company, Brian Cohen, is now CEO of Chia, also a platform for cryptocurrencies.