Blockchain Firm ConsenSys Acquires Asteroid Mining Firm

Blockchain technology company ConsenSys Inc. has taken over Planetary Resources, Inc., an American asteroid mining company. The deal was completed through asset-purchase, as per a media release by Planetary Resources.

Established in 2009 and previously known as Arkyd Astronautics, Planetary Resources is reportedly involved in the research, extraction and refining of materials from asteroids. Planetary Resources was funded with ~ $50 million by over 30 investors. The firm has successfully launched two satellites into orbit over the past six months.

Planetary Resources has clarified that ConsenSys has acquired the former to achieve “deep space capabilities” in its ecosystem. Following the acquisition, Planetary Resources’ General Counsel Brian Israel and President and CEO Chris Lewicki have joined ConsenSys.

ConsenSys Founder Joe Lubin had the following to say about the deal:

“it reflects our belief in democratizing and decentralizing space endeavors to unite our species and unlock untapped human potential.”

Before associating with Planetary Resources, Lewicki was working for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as Flight Director of the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers and Phoenix Mars lander.

Israel worked as a Legal Adviser for the US State Department’s Office and was accountable for the global officially authorized measurements of outer space, ocean, and global environmental administration matters.

Israel said “Ethereum smart contract functionality is a natural solution for private-ordering and commerce in space in which a diverse range of actors from a growing number of countries must coordinate and transact.”

Notably, in October, Lubin invested $6.5 million to acquire a minority stake in DrumG Technologies, an enterprise distributed ledger (DLT) firm established recently. The firm intends to assist the adoption of multiple interlinked distributed ledgers in the corporate world.

Earlier in July, ConsenSys inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Xiongan New Area government to offer blockchain technology to the “smart city.” The firm will offer suggestions to the Xiongan government on subject matters related to blockchain in order to transform it as a “next generation smart city [and] leading blockchain innovation hub.”