Crypto investment and infrastructure platform Layer1 announced today the closing of $2.1 million in seed funding backed by investors, including Peter Thiel, Digital Currency Group, Jeffrey Tarrant, and more. Layer1 takes concentrated bets on promising blockchain protocols and builds technology to support their impact.
Layer1’s notable investors affirm this approach with their participation in the company’s funding. Led by co-founder Alexander Liegl, Layer1 takes a long-term position in cryptoassets with promising technologies and network effects, then deploys capital and resources in order to improve their fundamental value and support market adoption.
Layer1 focuses on programmable money and store-of-value applications, which it believes has the potential for true value creation.
“We believe that the crypto investment company of the future will look radically different to the status quo, with a clear focus on an engineering-first and pro-activist investment approach. Cryptocurrencies, as open-source protocols, offer the unprecedented opportunity for companies like Layer1 to meaningfully add value. This is fundamentally different from the possibilities available in traditional asset classes.”
“We believe there is huge potential for a hands-on, mission-driven investor to take a concentrated position in a single cryptocurrency, and then dedicate talent and resources to significantly accelerate its development. Alex and his team are extremely talented and we are excited to support them.”
Layer1 wants to be the category-defining investment company for cryptocurrencies: an engineering organization that directly engages with open-source protocol development. It is currently deeply involved with a promising privacy-focused cryptocurrency called Grin and intends to build critical technology to support its growth. Launching in early 2019, Grin is highly scalable with strong privacy features.
The team behind Layer1 has previous experience at leading technology companies including Google and Facebook, global multi-billion dollar investment funds including Protégé Partners and Stanford Management Company, and some of the most established cryptocurrency projects including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stellar, and Grin.