BitTorrent is now officially a part of Tron, the file sharing service confirmed in a blog post today. The news confirms rumors that have been floating around since the middle of last month. BitTorrent didn’t confirm any specifics, but Tron, a relatively new entrant in the wild world of blockchain startups, was said to have paid around $126 million in cash for company.
BitTorrent, of course, is no spring chicken. The San Francisco-based software company was founded way back in 2004, developing protocol that would become synonymous with file sharing in a post-Napster world.
At present, BitTorrent claims around 100 million active users globally, with its self-titled client and BitTorrent Now, the latter of which tends to be video/music focused. The company will maintain those clients, operating out of Tron’s SF offices to “provide robust support for Tron’s global business development and partnerships, while pursuing its vision for the world’s largest decentralized ecosystem.”
As Variety notes, BitTorrent recently looked to put to rest user concern about the acquisition, stating 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.”
The companies haven’t disclosed their plans beyond that.