Layer1 (Mining Company)
Basics
"Layer1, a mining startup backed by Peter Thiel, started operations in Texas, after having raised more than $50 million last November. Layer1 aims to “repatriate” Bitcoin to the US, having manufactured their own mining equipment instead of using Chinese ASICS. Layer1 CEO Alexander Liegl stated they want to dominate 30% of the Bitcoin mining hash rate by 2021, and they have already deployed several 2.5 MW containers using liquid cooling (due to the climate of the region)."
- From the CoinDesk 50:
"With a $2.1 million seed round led by Peter Thiel, Layer1 started out as an energy-minded investment firm. That was in 2018. Less than a year later, the firm was valued at $200 million, when Thiel and other crypto industry blue-chips pumped in an additional $50 million. Pivoting from its original focus on Grin development, Layer1 is now placing its bets on energy-efficient Bitcoin mining, paradoxically under the hot West Texas sun. Looking to tap a supply of low-cost, sustainable local energy, the firm runs mining factories equipped with proprietary ASICs chips and patent-pending liquid cooling technology to mitigate the extreme heat. Ambitious to a fault, the firm says it expects to capture 30% of the Bitcoin network’s hash rate by 2021 – it is currently on pace to have 2-3% of the global hashrate by September – stealing market share from Chinese mining pools that currently control between 60-70% of the network. Though with Bitmain and Northern Data AG moving in, Layer1 isn’t exactly alone in the Lone Star State."
Team, investors
- Alexander Liegl; CEO
- backed by Peter Thiel
