ItBit Rebrands as Paxos Amid Blockchain Pivot

Blockchain startup itBit has taken steps to reorganize its corporate assets.

Announced

yesterday, itBit officially rebranded as Paxos, migrating its blockchain projects to a new entity under which itBit will now sit as a separate division. The move confirms past indications that its leadership was seeking to rebrand to better highlight its private blockchain and distributed ledger work.

According to the company, "Paxos" will now house itBit's distributed ledger efforts, thereby separating this division from its bitcoin exchange and over-the-counter trading services.

The rebrand comes more than a year after the firm launched its New York-based exchange and announced a $25m Series A round, but according to representatives for the firm, the change won't have any immediate impact on how itBit operates.

Spokesperson Silvia Davi told CoinDesk:

"ItBit continues to operate as usual. It's now focused solely on delivering their bitcoin trading services for institutions and trading professionals."

The rebranding follows an outflow of employees from the startup, and may be connected to rumored plans to sell or shutter the exchange entirely.

Regardless of the future of the bitcoin exchange, the move suggests that the company is continuing to invest time and resources in its enterprise blockchain work.

In statements, the startup suggested that the rebrand reflects the direction the company intends to take in the months ahead. It's a strategy that has resulted in at least one confirmed project, as Paxos is already working on a gold settlement platform for Euroclear.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in itBit.

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