BitTorrent Is Reportedly Selling for $140 Million

BitTorrent Inc, the parent company behind the popular file-sharing client uTorrent, recently made a deal to sell to Justin Sun, the founder of cryptocurrency TRON. According to new information, Sun has agreed to pay $140 million for the company. While no details have yet been confirmed, a shareholder notes that BitTorrent will in part be used to “legitimise” TRON’s business.

TRON’s founder agreed to pay $140 million to acquire the company.

It is unclear what Sun’s plans are for BitTorrent but the existing products, including uTorrent, are not expected to go away. According to a shareholder quoted by TechCrunch, one of the plans is to use the acquisition to “legitimize” TRON’s business, which currently has a controversial reputation.

This is an interesting goal, as BitTorrent itself has also dealt with some controversy of its own. The company was previously asked to do more to combat piracy and a few weeks ago, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas launched an investigation into the links between uTorrent usage and images of child exploitation..

BitTorrent is currently working on a new iOS app which will allow users to play videos on their mobile devices. When completed, it will be released on Apple’s App Store.

The $140 million acquisition follows a turbulent time for BitTorrent during which the company was nearly destroyed due to questionable management practices. At the same time, none of the new products, services, and business models it developed managed to surpass the early success it had with uTorrent.

Whether the deal with TRON’s founder is a turning point has yet to be seen. TorrentFreak reached out to the company to find out more about its future plans but, at the time of writing, we have yet to hear back.