Blockstream Buys Bitcoin Wallet to Boost Sidechains Development

Bitcoin infrastructure architect Blockstream has acquired wallet provider GreenAddress in a move the startup says could impact the development of its signature, still in-development sidechains solution.
Following the acquisition, GreenAddress Wallet’s team of three developers will continue to work on privacy and security bolstering features for the wallet as well as compatibility for sidechains, a bitcoin infrastructure component that Blockstream has raised $76m in two investment rounds to engineer.
In interview, former GreenAddress founder and CEO Lawrence Nahum, now senior architect at Blockstream, said that the goal is to shape the wallet into a something like a portal for sidechains, a technology meant to enable a new wave of interoperable blockchains that could beanchored to the bitcoin blockchain.
Nahum told CoinDesk:
“Blockstream is not just going to need some node service that provides some functionality, but it’s also going to need an interface, a wallet. It will provide an integrated solution for Blockstream customers.”

This post was published at Coin Desk on Alyssa Hertig/ July 27, 2016.