Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Is Now Doubling Down On Btc

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency consumers have been struggling this yr to every justify earlier crypto investments and make new ones.

The bitcoin price, beneath pressure from the likes of Fb’s libra mission and the ever-present menace of a regulatory crackdown, soared inside the first six months of the yr solely to fall once more as soon as extra.

Some consumers have not been postpone by bitcoin’s roller-coaster yr, nonetheless, with billionaire PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel amongst new backers of Layer1, a renewable energy-focused bitcoin mining operation based in San Francisco.

This week, Layer1 revealed it has raised $50 million at a $200 million valuation from Thiel, Shasta Ventures and totally different undisclosed bitcoin and cryptocurrency consumers, together with to a earlier $2.1 million seed spherical that included Thiel, along with enterprise capital agency Digital Foreign exchange Group.

Layer1 is aiming to drawback the perceived data that bitcoin mining the inside the U.S. will probably be unable to compete with areas equal to China, the place some 60% of bitcoin mining operations are presently positioned, with some evaluation suggesting that amount may be even elevated.

Layer1, which has pivoted to renewable vitality bitcoin mining from a earlier give consideration to the occasion of programmable money and store-of-value functions, wishes to convey wind-powered bitcoin mining rigs to West Texas by early subsequent yr. “Consistent with commerce evaluation, over 60% of bitcoin’s hash value and 100% of bitcoin {{hardware}} manufacturing are positioned in China,” Layer1’s cofounder and chief govt Alexander Liegl wrote in a weblog submit asserting the current funding. “Decrease than 5% of bitcoin’s hashrate and 0% of {{hardware}} manufacturing are positioned within the US.” China dominates not solely bitcoin mining however as well as the manufacture of laptop computer chips and totally different instruments needed for the strategy.