Mow announced his new company during an appearance at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference in Miami.Read MoreFeedzy
Samson Mow, who recently exited his position as chief strategy officer at Blockstream, has started JAN3, with $21 million in funding at a $100 million valuation.
“JAN3 will be focused on advancing Bitcoin and second layer technologies like Liquid and Lightning, which are the key to mass adoption and a Bitcoin circular economy,” said Mow in a press release. “The company will also support my nation-state Bitcoin adoption initiatives and contribute expertise to infrastructure development projects.”
Investors in the initial funding round included Alistair Milne, Chun Wang – Co-Founder of F2Pool – and El Zonte Capital, an investment firm launched by Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert.
The name of the company refers to the genesis block of Bitcoin, mined on January 3, 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
JAN3 will take over the crypto wallet AQUA, a Bitcoin and Liquid Mobile wallet from Blockstream, as well as non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Raretoshi.
Mow’s new company has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of El Salvador – which legalized Bitcoin as legal tender last year – to supply digital infrastructure for the country and Bitcoin City.
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