Bitcoin Miner Bitmain Acquires Data Startup Blocktrail

 Bitmain, the operator of one of the bitcoin network’s largest mining  pools, has acquired a bitcoin data and analytics startup for an  undisclosed amount. With the acquisition of Blocktrail, announced today, Bitmain will seek to bolster the services it offers at BTC.com, a block explorer and analytics service it launched last September. The  acquisition is the latest in what has proved to be a year of  consolidation for the industry, which has seen particular activity in  the exchange sector. This year has so far seen the bitcoin mining chip manufacturer behind the Avalon chip series sold in the industry’s largest public acquisition, while CoinDesk was acquired by bitcoin investment firm Digital Currency Group. With the news, three full-time Blocktrail employees will join the  Bitmain team, including Blocktrail co-founder Boaz Bechar, who voiced  his optimism that BTC.com would help his team reach more users. Bechar told CoinDesk: 

"We’ve seen a lot of consolidation going on in the past  year, and for us, it was really a perfect match of finding a big player  that has a use for all the technology we built."

Bechar said Blocktrail, co-founded by VKontakte co-founder Lev  Leviev, would now be increasing its European team "significantly". "I think BTC.com is going to be strong. We’re going to have a bigger team and bigger resources," Bechar said.