Foundry Digital, the digital asset mining and staking company, said it is buying Web 3 software development and consulting company Upstate Interactive to expand its decentralized infrastructure on a larger scale.

Foundry is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, parent company of CoinDesk.

Upstate Interactive builds distributed applications and smart contracts on Ethereum, supporting decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFT), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and diverse software projects for the modern enterprise, according to a statement. The Upstate Interactive team will be integrated across Foundry's multiple business lines and will help with various products and services related to the infrastructure layer of digital assets to institutions.

Web 3 refers to the next iteration of the internet that promotes decentralized protocols and aims to reduce dependency on large tech companies, shifting power to individual users who can participate in the governance and operation of the protocols directly.

“The passion and skills of everyone on Upstate Interactive’s team complements those that we have at Foundry,” said CEO Mike Colyer. “This acquisition will build on our mission to shape the future of decentralization from right here in upstate New York,” he added.

The deal came about after Upstate helped Foundry with user interface/experience (UI/UX) development for Foundry's staking service. “Through collaborating on the staking site and portal, both companies discovered that working together and combining expertise would unlock the potential to empower a decentralized infrastructure on a much larger scale,” according to the statement.

Foundry launched its staking business last year to provide services to institutions related to various proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain networks.

Foundry didn’t disclose the terms of the deal but said it will close at the end of April and all Upstate Interactive employees will be joining the company at the beginning of May.