Crypto Mining Giant Bitmain Acquires Bitcoin Cash Wallet

Open source browser-based cryptocurrency wallet Telescope has officially announced its acquisition by Bitmain Technologies Inc., the world’s largest crypto mining rig manufacturer, which also runs one of the world’s most extensive cryptocurrency mining pools. The move comes at an important time for Bitmain, which is increasing its involvement in the bitcoin cash space as it continues to reinvent itself as more than just an ASIC maker ahead of its planned mega-IPO in Hong Kong.

Telescope is a browser-embedded cryptocurrency wallet that currently allows users of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to send and receive BCH through a browser extension. Set up earlier in 2018 by former IBM software engineer Aaron Angert, Telescope also offers support for BitPay and MoneyButton. While it is currently optimized for Chrome and Firefox, the plan is for the application to eventually offer full support for other leading browsers as the project grows.

Telescope transaction keys are saved in the application’s browser extension, and then transactions are signed by the user’s browser directly and sent to a BCH block explorer. Cross-browser private keys are encrypted via the blockchain, guaranteeing safe storage of user funds, just like standalone cryptocurrency wallets.

Speaking about Bitmain’s acquisition of Telescope, the company’s Lead Developer Aaron Angert said:

“I am extremely proud of what Telescope has been able to achieve so far and am excited for its future with the additional help and support of Bitmain. We are honored to be a part of the bitcoin cash community, as a vibrant collection of individuals contributing towards the development of blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency industry.”

Also reacting, Nishant Sharma, Head of International PR and Communications at Bitmain said:

“We are extremely proud of Telescope wallet and the simple but key innovation that the project brings to the bitcoin cash eco-system. Browser-embedded cryptocurrency wallets are a promising technology. The Telescope development team is doing some very interesting work and we look forward to working together with them on the Telescope project and future bitcoin cash projects.”

In August, CCN reported that Bitmain is sitting on bitcoin cash reserves worth nearly $600 million, or more than 5 percent of all the 17.3 million BCH in existence. The acquisition of Telescope comes as Bitmain’s latest bet on bitcoin cash after the company threw its weight behind the faction that turned into BCH during the bitterly-contested bitcoin fork in 2017.