Blockchain.info has reached a five-year deal to manage the premium domain name 'www.bitcoin.com'. Previously the domain was used by Coinbase as a customer acquisition channel.

The company

says it is positioning itself to maintain and build its profile in the bitcoin community:

"Our mission is to provide tools and services that build on bitcoin's core strengths. To that end, Blockchain plans to utilize the bitcoin.com domain to help drive consumer adoption and education."

The significance of the domain should not be underestimated, as it is the flagship domain for the cryptocurrency. Blockchain apparently wants to transform it into a vital resource for the bitcoin community and reach out to mainstream internet users. It said:

Blockchain.info has the resources and know-how needed to pull it off. The company’s web-wallet software now supports more than 1.5 million wallets – an increase from the million wallet users it had just three months ago.

http://t.co/pY6wnVOdFu reaches 1.5 million wallets! via @RedditBTC http://t.co/ihmT74qjZg #bitcoin

— Blockchain.info (@blockchain) April 14, 2014

The company passed the 500,000 mark back in October 2013.

Blockchain.info is the world’s most popular bitcoin website, which is no small feat. Additionally, the company is expanding beyond wallets to other bitcoin-related services, recently acquiring ZeroBlock LLC, the world’s most popular bitcoin mobile app.

Interestingly, the domain's homepage links to various Blockchain projects, and denotes the bitcoin 'B' with the unicode 'Ƀ' symbol – an alternative to the double-dashed 'B⃦'.

This has been chosen by a website of industry members (including ZeroBlock and Lamassu) as a way to better legitimize bitcoin as a symbol in print and online.

The group argue that having a symbol in the standardised form would better convey the currency to the masses across various forms of media.

This article was co-authored by Nermin Hajdarbegovic and Grace Caffyn.