Justin Sun’s BitTorrent to Acquire Esports Platform for New Streaming Ecosystem

BitTorrent is going through another transformation.

Announced Thursday, the peer-to-peer platform plans to acquire blockchain-based esports streaming service DLive.tv, which will be migrated – along with existing BitTorrent services – into a newly formed entity, BitTorrent X.

DLive was selected as part of BitTorrents’ attempt to pivot its core business model into one that offers decentralized storage, data protocols and content distribution, according to a press announcement. 

The esports streaming service boasts around 7 million active users and over 200,000 active content creators.

BitTorrent X’s services will be powered by the platform’s native BTT token, which was created shortly after the platform was acquired by Tron founder Justin Sun in 2019.

“BitTorrent X is the next step in establishing a truly decentralized internet,” Sun, also BitTorrent’s CEO, said in a statement. “In one big step, the BitTorrent X ecosystem may drive blockchain-related tools to billions of devices.”

Legacy player

BitTorrent was established in 2001 as a data-transfer protocol and quickly caught the attention of more than 2 billion users globally, as well as pricking the ears of big-tech names such as Twitter, Blizzard and Facebook.

Sun said he wants to leverage the platform’s brand awareness to position the platform as an ecosystem that “may drive blockchain-related tools to billions of devices.”

However, the acquisition by Tron of BitTorrent has not been without its controversies.

Back in August 2018, at least five senior employees of BitTorrent, including its general manager and head of marketing, left the company over concerns relating to the acquisition and the company’s direction.

The departures also related to issues of company culture and came but two months after the $120 million cash acquisition by a company registered solely to Sun known as Rainberry Acquisition, Inc.

Sun and BitTorrent said they would unveil more about the new platform during a live event slated for November.