Coinbase Acquires Block Explorer Service Blockr.io

Coinbase has acquired Blockr.io as part of an undisclosed deal.

With the move, the San Francisco-based bitcoin financial services startup will add a popular block explorer service to its list of assets. Coinbase already offers merchant processing, secure vault storage and consumer wallet hosting, and extends its presence to yet another vertical with Blockr.io.

In a blog post announcing the purchase, Coinbase cited Blockr.io's sleek, intuitive user interface and API as the chief motivating factors, writing:

"We’re always keeping an eye out for other companies and individuals making waves in digital currency and helping make bitcoin easy to use. One such company is Blockr.io"

Coinbase adds to core team

Blockr.io

was created by a team of Slovenia-based bitcoin enthusiasts that included software developer Sašo Matejina and designer Samo Drole. Both will join Coinbase as a result of the acquisition.

Matejina and Drole will focus their efforts on further developing the Coinbase API and Coinbase’s own bitcoin node, the company said. Coinbase added that Blockr.io will continue to operate “for now”, though there is no word yet on future development.

Notably, Matejina has a background in automated functional and regression testing for banking software and developed a number of news platforms for Slovenian media. Drole previously worked as a freelance designer.

This is the latest in a series of acquisitions and hirings completed by Coinbase. For example, in May it acquired the development team behind content sharing platform Kippt, while it bolstered its team with industry veterans from Amazon and Facebook earlier this year.

Emphasizing ease of use

Launched last December, Blockr.io conducted extensive beta testing of its platform prior to the sale.

The service features integrated parsers for bitcoin and litecoin, and can be modified to parse any other coin running on a bitcoind fork. Blockr.io also supports automatic scripts using its own API.

The service is designed to allow for ease of use, highlighting the block chain and its data through a clutter-free interface. Users can quickly access addresses, see balances and bookmark or share any information they may find useful with the service.

Blockr.io even includes some fun features, such as a trivia section that lets users track accounts with the most coins or other outstanding characteristics.

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