BitTorrent Courted EOS, Filecoin Cryptocurrency Creators Before Tron Sale

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A number of well-known encrypted startups had their eyes on BitTorrent before Tron's acquisition, Justin Sun.

CoinDesk learned that in addition to Tron and Neo, the Icon and Protocol Labs projects Focused on the blockchain, Filecoin's developers also started talks with BitTorrent to explore a purchase.

People familiar with the negotiations say that there were two other parties – both in the blockchain space – interested in the peer-to-peer file sharing company. Sources did not indicate that companies or people who were not in the blockchain space showed interest.

Justin Sun, the creator of Tron, eventually won BitTorrent, as reported by Variety in June.

BitTorrent software in many ways has paved the way for today's efforts towards a decentralized Internet, but even if historically the company has struggled to create a profitable business. At the end of 2017, the company lost the founder and inventor of its most important technologies, Bram Cohen, who continued to found Chia, hoping to develop a more ecological crypto process.

According to internal documents obtained by CoinDesk, BitTorrent initiated the acquisition negotiations when the founder of Tron turned to the main shareholder of BitTorrent, the venture capital company DCM. In particular, Justin Sun contacted David Chao, a BitTorrent board member who controlled most of the company's shares and proposed to purchase preferred shares of DCM to obtain a controlling stake.

However, Chao pushed Sun to buy even BitTorrent common stock

As previously reported by CoinDesk, Sun's most significant rival in the transaction was Neo Global Capital, the investment vehicle of NEO, a blockchain project which was called "China & # 39; s Ethereum". Neo Global Capital had launched a $ 50 million top offer to Sun's, but for various reasons the deal did not go ahead.

The BitTorrent documents also state that, in addition to Sun, there were another six parties negotiating around the acquisition. Three parties made offers while three others left.

CoinDesk learned that BitTorrent also contacted Block.one, the creator of the EOS protocol, to see if it was interested in acquiring the company. As previously reported, Block.one has raised $ 4 billion through an initial one-year offer (ICO).

Once the comment was reached, Block.one CEO Brendan Blumer told CoinDesk in an e-mail: "They contacted us and solicited the organization

The charm of BitTorrent

Tron has not yet explained publicly why it acquired BitTorrent, even if observers have assumed that Sun saw its 100 million users per month as a value that is worth having. [19659002Thisisnolongerasourceofinformationontheothersideofthepublisher'sinterestintheacquisition

Neo Global Capital, example, he told CoinDesk that he thought BitTorrent could develop a decentralized file storage protocol that could be useful for decentralized applications (dapps) within its blockchain ecosystem.

According to people familiar with the question, Protocol Labs saw the value in the BitTorrent user base, while sources with knowledge of the Icon negotiations said the project was intrigued by the potential to build BitTorrent's software in its blockchain.

Yet neither Labs Protocol nor Icon have made BitTorrent an offer, a result that sources attributed to concerns regarding copyright infringement issues associated with the protocol, monetization and the effective integration of technology and the price tag of the company.

Based on the CoinDesk survey, it is unclear whether the other parties involved in the negotiations, with the exception of Tron and Neo Global Capital, could be characterized by serious buyers.

BitTorrent and DCM rejected a request for comment from CoinDesk. Tron did not respond to a request for comment.

For Ben Lebeau, responsible for cryptography of Sandwich Video – one of Silicon Valley's most sought-after content production companies – it's not hard to see why BitTorrent was so desirable

As a major destructor in online content delivery, the model of business and the ethos of BitTorrent are aligned with that of the community of cryptocurrencies.

"Peer-to-peer networks have always pushed this idea that the power to share information should be in the hands of the individual," Lebeau wrote CoinDesk, adding:

"I think it would be hard to find someone who doubts the impact that BitTorrent has had on file sharing before decent content delivery networks and other centralized alternatives existed. "

Also recognized the idea that acquiring business was a way to Tron to establish a presence in the United States – a theory that other observers have advanced.

"On the other hand, it is an exceptional chlorine always a way to migrate more people into the decentralized ecosystem", continued Lebeau, before concluding:

"If Tron can find a way to exploit this network, this could push us closer to creating a true internet of value. "[19659024] Darts on the image of a dartboard through Shutterstock


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