BitTorrent Launches BitTorrent X Ecosystem Following DLive Acquisition

BitTorrent Inc., the firm behind the massively popular BitTorrent protocol and app, has announced its acquisition of blockchain-powered live streaming platform DLive.

DLive will now form part of the newly established BitTorrent X ecosystem, which also includes the BitTorrent File System (BTFS), a service used for distributed file storage and retrieval, as well as the BitTorrent client, which will be utilized delivering these services and more to users.

Transitioning to BitTorrent X

Since the BitTorrent protocol was first developed in 2001, it has become the most successful peer-to-peer data distribution system. It has already been used by well over 2 billion users globally — including massive enterprise users like Facebook, Twitter, and Blizzard.

The BitTorrent file-sharing protocol also appears to be an inspiration that edged Satoshi Nakamoto towards the development of Bitcoin (BTC), as described in a message posted by Nakamoto on the Cryptography Mailing List.

After being acquired by TRON CEO Justin Sun in 2018, BitTorrent has gradually been woven into the rapidly growing TRON blockchain ecosystem, with the BitTorrent File System (BTFS) now being used by the TRON blockchain and DLive as a decentralized storage solution.

With the acquisition of DLive, BitTorrent is now ready to move into the next stage of its expansion: the launch of BitTorrent X — an ecosystem comprised of BTFS, the BitTorrent (and μTorrent) apps, the BitTorrent token (BTT), and now DLive.

DLive is a leading blockchain-powered live streaming platform and currently has more than 7 million users and 200,000 content creators.

Some of its top creators include PewDiePie, tugaygokyt, and enesbatur — each of whom has hundreds of thousands of followers thanks to their popular gaming and e-sports live-streamed content.

“BitTorrent X is the next step in establishing a truly decentralized internet,” said Justin Sun, founder of TRON and CEO of BitTorrent. “In one big step, the BitTorrent X ecosystem may drive blockchain-related tools to billions of devices. Hundreds of millions of users will have access to the next era of tools to share, store, and stream their content directly to anyone across the web.”

According to the announcement, the BitTorrent X ecosystem will be powered by the BTT cryptocurrency, which is already used for incentivizing users to share their storage space on the BTFS, and can be staked on DLive to earn rewards.

It is expected that the arrangement will allow potentially billions of users to access decentralized file sharing and live streaming services, with the same simplicity and ease of use users expect from BitTorrent and TRON applications.

“The acquisition marks a new start for DLive.tv. We are more than excited to join the BitTorrent ecosystem as the collaboration will provide us with more innovative solutions to empower content creators and reward communities.” says Charles Wayn, CEO of DLive, “Together with the BitTorrent team, we look forward to bringing disruptive innovations to the digital media space, and furthermore create value for our global community.”

The last few months have been packed full of news coming from BitTorrent and DLive. Last month, it was announced that TRON would now use the BitTorrent File System (BTFS) as the data storage solution for TRON nodes, making onboarding new nodes to the network much simpler and faster. Likewise, DLive recently completed its 2 million Lemon #StayAtHome giveaway, helping to supports its viewers and streamers during the COVID-19 lockdown.