On Monday (16 July 2018), Block.one, the publisher of the EOSIO blockchain protocol, announced that Bitmain (the largest producer of ASIC-based crypto mining hardware and the operator of one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools), venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal), and hedge fund billionaires Louis Bacon (the founder and CEO of Moore Capital Management), and Alan Howard (co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management) had invested in the company as part of its latest fundraising round.
Jihan Wu, co-founder and co-CEO of Bitmain said:
“The EOSIO protocol is a great example of blockchain innovation. Its performance and scalability can meet the needs of demanding consumer applications and will pave the way for mainstream blockchain adoption.”
Block.one, the Cayman Islands company headquartered in Hong Kong that managed to raise $4 billion in the most successful ICO of all time (i.e. the EOS ICO that ended on1 June 2018), is led by founder and CEO Brendan Blumer and CTO Daniel Larimer (the creator of BitShares, the co-founder of Steemit, the architect of EOS, and the creator of the Delegated Proof of Stake consensus algorithm). Blumer had this to say:
“As Block.one prepares to announce its future plans, we’re excited to welcome key strategic investors aligned with our values of creating a more secure and connected world.”
This investment round follows Block.one’s announcement on 14 May 2018 that former CFO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Rob Jesudason, had been appointed company Group President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), and the announcement on 5 July 2018 that former Jefferies Asia CEO, Mike Alexander, would be leading Block.one’s $1 billion EOS VC arm.
On 23 January 2018, Block.one and Mike Novogratz’ Galaxy Digital, a full-service digital assets merchant bank, announced “the formation and capitalization of a joint venture that is focused on developing the EOSIO ecosystem and making strategic investments in projects that utilize EOSIO blockchain software.” As part of that relationship, Block.one and Galaxy Digital said that they would “deploy capital for future investments through the capitalization of a new $325 million EOSIO Ecosystem Fund” (the second such EOSIO fund, with the first one, announced on 16 January 2018, being the result of a partnership with TomorrowBC).
Sam Englebardt, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Galaxy Digital, said on that occasion:
“With so many new blockchain projects, it can be difficult to ascertain which ones will emerge as market leaders. However, we believe EOSIO is one of them. The Block.one team and the EOSIO community are introducing the first scalable infrastructure to enable mainstream blockchain adoption and we are excited to be at the forefront of such a transformative initiative which we anticipate will drive positive change in the digital assets space.”
And, Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, added:
“EOSIO is designed to enable new community-driven business models capable of disrupting the world’s largest technology incumbents. This milestone represents Galaxy Digital and Block.one’s joint commitment to investing in that future.”
Featured Image Credit: Courtesy of Block.one
