Justin Sun, founder of the decentralized Internet platform, Tron announced the acquisition of BitTorrent, which is a popular file-sharing network. As reported by Techcrunch, the blockchain-based platform is said to have acquired BitTorrent for a sum of about $126 million.
TRON foundation is a decentralized platform for sharing entertainment content, including music and games. It uses blockchain and peer-to-peer (p2p) network technology to exclude the need for a middleman between content producers and consumers such as Google and Amazon.
BitTorrent, founded in the year 2004, is a popular peer-to-peer file sharing protocol with 100 million users. It also owns the popular, uTorrent client software and torrent client. BitTorrent is known to stream movies and music with great ease and is also fast and reliable. Moreover, it has changed how and why we watch things online.
With the BitTorrent acquisition, Justin wants to make Tron the largest decentralized ecosystem in the world. While that’s an exciting prospect for both tech users, users had questions if Tron would charge them via cryptocurrency for the services offered. BitTorrent, in their blog, stated that “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.” However, Tron’s plans for BitTorrent are still under the hood.
‘TRON + BitTorrent: The world’s largest decentralized ecosystem’
In an official letter by the Tron foundation, it stated that the firm would continue BitTorrent’s protocol legacy post integrating it within the Tron ecosystem.
It's official. BitTorrent is now part of #TRON. We pioneered the world's largest decentralized p2p protocol, now we're joining forces with TRON to build the future of the decentralized internet. Read more at https://t.co/ZoCPl5c5wS. @Tronfoundation @justinsuntron pic.twitter.com/EI3xP8Gdz2
— BitTorrent Inc. (@BitTorrent) July 24, 2018
The letter also states that, “With the integration of BitTorrent, TRON aims to liberate the Internet from the stranglehold of large corporations, give data rights back to the individual, and reignite the early 21st century vision of a free, transparent, decentralized network to connect the world, because the internet belongs to the people.”
Sun in his letter also mentioned BitTorrent as the genesis of the decentralization movement. Tron’s developers, entrepreneurs, and the community consider BitTorrent as the original pioneers of decentralization technology.
Sun stated, “We believe that joining the TRON network will further enhance BitTorrent and accelerate our mission of creating an Internet of options, not rules.”
Due to this acquisition, BitTorrent may lose its primary illegal user base. However, it still continues to demonstrate its legal uses and will further continue to evolve with TRON’s ecosystem. It will also take control of its two popular Torrent applications, BitTorrent and μTorrent clients, which will be free to download, and supported by ads.
This merger is a happy turning point for BitTorrent. BitTorrent was in a total mess some years back and had not raised any money since 2008 following which they fired its dual CEOs. Given its commitment to the notion of a decentralized internet, BitTorrent still attempted to function as a business, with its app or service. But these strategies did not work out well. However, TRON’s acquisition has turned the tables for BitTorrent recently. It could be the story of Cinderella meeting Prince Charming of this decade.
Read more about BitTorrent’s acquisition on Techcrunch.
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