Layer1 enters the mining market thanks to $ 50 million from Peter Thiel and Digital Currency Group

Digital Currency Group (DCG)-backed Layer1 raises $50 million froma number of well-known venture capitalists,including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

According to The Block, thanks to the successful closure of the Series A financing round, the company's market value reached $ 200 million.

Initially, the company focused on support.ecosystem of confidential cryptocurrency Grin. However, now the San Francisco-based firm intends to focus on bitcoin mining and plans to compete with Chinese miners over time.

“We expect our chips to be competitive for at least 8 years. We also have our own electrical substations ”- said CEO and co-founder of Layer1 Alexander Ligl.

To implement the plan, the company acquiredland in Texas for the construction of substations, entered into a partnership with a Beijing manufacturer of semiconductors and built its own infrastructure for mining cryptocurrencies. Ligl added that Layer1 intends to become a vertically oriented company that controls every element in the mining business process chain. The company also intends to enter the lending and crypto derivatives markets.

Recall that at the end of last year, Layer1 raised $ 2.1 million in seed funding.