With a vision to lead the Bitcoin mining industry, Layer1 has closed its Series A funding round after securing $50 million.
Announced on Tuesday, the funding came from renowned tech investor Peter Thiel, Shasta Ventures, and other undisclosed investors. After this funding round, the valuation of the firm touched $200 million.
Thiel was also a seed investor in the company who contributed to the previous $2.1 million round.
Layer1 is entering a sector that is dominated by Chinese players. The firm is planning to provide end-to-end mining services to outrun its Asian competitors.
The company is planning to operate its own power station in the region and purchase solar and wind energy produced on the plains of West Texas.
Unlike other Bitcoin mining firms, Layer1 chose West Texas, a region dominated by deserts, to be its base. Although mining companies set up their operations in cooler regions to help their equipment cool down, Layer1 is confident that its cooling technology can keep the mining machines cool even in the middle of a desert.
Shifting focus towards to saturated market
Founded in 2018, Layer1 entered the market as an activist fund to develop an ecosystem around privacy-centric digital currency Grin. At that time, the firm did not showcase any plans to dive into the crypto mining industry, however, now it is planning to be a mammoth in the sector.
The company is set to produce its own Bitcoin mining chips and already partnered with a Beijing-based manufacturer. According to its co-founder Alexander Liegl, the chips will be future proof for at least eight years with efficient mining performance.
In addition, to cut out its dependence on third parties, Layer1 is also building its own mining infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Chinese Crypto Mining equipment giant Bitmain is also determined to keep its stronghold on the market by updating its product lines. The company recently introduced two 7nm chip-based mining hardware.
