Blockchain venture production studio ConsenSys, Inc. has acquired Planetary Resources, according to a press release from the asteroid mining company. No financial details of the acquisition have been published, but Planetary Resources says its president and CEO Chris Lewicki and its general counsel Brian Israel have joined ConsenSys in connection with the buyout.

Lewicki said he was proud of his team’s accomplishments and “delighted to join ConsenSys in building atop our work to expand humanity’s economic sphere of influence into the Solar System.”

The Luxembourg state was a shareholder of the asteroid mining company, which had already faced financial difficulties earlier this year, as Delano reported in August. But according to the Luxemburger Wort (French site), the state sold its 10% share in Planetary Resources ten days ago. It cites SNCI board chairman Patrick Nickels saying that the share was sold for a “symbolic price”.

In November 2016 a €25million agreement was finalised that saw the state and the Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement make a €12 million direct capital investment into the company and also provide grants worth €13 million. At the same time Georges Schmit, an advisory board member of the SpaceResources.lu initiative, joined Planetary Resources’ Board of Directors.

ConsenSys Founder Joe Lubin has spoken of his admiration for Planetary Resources’s “world class talent, its record of innovation, and for inspiring people across our planet in support of its bold vision for the future.” Her added that the acquisition reflects his company’s belief “in democratizing and decentralizing space endeavors to unite our species and unlock untapped human potential.”

ConsenSys will operate its space initiatives out of Planetary Resources’ former facility in Redmond in Washington state.

(this article was amended at 16.45 on Friday 2 Nlovember to include the news that the Luxembourg state had sold its share in Planetary Resources)