Samson Mow’s new company JAN3 helping build Bitcoin City in El Salvador

Published at: April 8, 2022

Samson Mow, former chief strategy officer of Blockstream and founder of Pixelmatic, said on Thursday that he has started a new company called JAN3 which will focus on accelerating Bitcoin adoption. 

The Chinese-Canadian Bitcoin entrepreneur told Reuters that JAN3 has already signed a memorandum of understanding to assist in developing digital infrastructure in El Salvador.

"It's a general MOU that says we'll work together to build digital infrastructure for the country and for Bitcoin City.”

Mow added that making the decision for JAN3 to work with El Salvador was an easy choice, "I just set up my company and I said 'do you want to work together?' and they said 'sure.’”

Mow and his new firm will work alongside El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, and its government to assist in the establishment of Bitcoin City, a development that will reportedly use geothermal power from nearby volcanoes to power Bitcoin mining as well as the city‘s infrastructure.

According JAN3’s recently established Twitter account, which boasts a rapidly growing follower count of 3,300, the company has reportedly raised $21 million in funding at a valuation of $100 million.

The funding round was led by Alistair Milne, the CIO of Atlanta Digital Currency Fund, Chun Wang, the co-founder of crypto mining firm F2Pool, as well as El Zonte Capital, a new investment fund founded by prominent Bitcoin bull Max Keiser and his wife, Stacy Herbert.

The news comes as Mow spoke at the Bitcoin 2022 Conference, where he announced that two new jurisdictions — The Caribbean island of Roatán and Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal — would be adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. Mow also mentioned Mexico, however the country is still considering the idea.

Related: Bitcoin 2022: Thiel calls Buffett 'sociopathic', Mexican billionaire has 60% in BTC

The name “JAN3” is a reference to Jan. 3rd, 2009, which is the day that Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first block — also known as the “genesis block” — of Bitcoin. Playing on this namesake, the company’s first tweet was a not-so-cryptic reference to The Times’ headline on that day.

Tags
Adoption
Bitcoin
Blockstream
El Salvador
Launch
Samson Mow
Bitcoin Industry
Genesis Block
Related Posts
Inside El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment: Cointelegraph video report
Last month, Bitcoin was adopted as legal tender in El Salvador, joining the U.S. dollar. The country's new Bitcoin Law, which will be enforced starting Sept. 7, will allow Salvadorans to use Bitcoin (BTC) as a currency to purchase goods and services, as well as to pay taxes and debt. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has stated that Bitcoin adoption will hugely benefit the 70% of the local population that lacks access to banking services. He also believes that it will attract investments and create new jobs. However, the Bitcoin Law has raised multiple concerns. Skeptics say the cryptocurrency's high …
Adoption / July 27, 2021
Bitcoin could reach $1M in 5 years due to fiat currencies’ collapse, says Samson Mow
Despite the ongoing bear market, Jan3 CEO and Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Samson Mow believes that the leading cryptocurrency could reach the $1-million-price benchmark in the next five to 10 years. The collapse of major fiat currencies will be a major catalyst, which he said can “happen very rapidly” and “are not anticipated.” ”It just sort of happens overnight, and then you are shoveling cash into a wheelbarrow,” he said in a recent interview with Cointelegraph. Mow made his prediction while commenting on the current state of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador, about a year after it was adopted as a …
Adoption / Dec. 12, 2022
Pro-Bitcoin president of El Salvador to offer citizenship for foreign investors
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele wants to offer citizenship to those who invest in the small Central American nation. President Bukele took to Twitter to inform the crypto community on Sunday that he was sending a list of 52 legal reforms to Congress. Among the most notable proposals, Bukele called for the removal of red tape, reducing bureaucracy, creating tax incentives and most importantly offering citizenships to foreigners looking to invest in the nation. I’m sending 52 legal reforms to congress, to remove red tape, reduce bureaucracy, create tax incentives, citizenship in exchange for investments, new securities laws, stability contracts, …
Adoption / Feb. 21, 2022
El Salvador celebrates Bitcoin anniversary: A year of ups and downs
Sept. 7, 2022 marks exactly one year since El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender by enforcing the Bitcoin Law. Advocating for Bitcoin as legal tender last year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele promised that Bitcoin adoption would benefit the 70% of the local population that had a lack of access to banking services as of 2021. The Salvadoran government also touted Bitcoin as a tool to attract foreign investment, create new jobs and cut reliance on the U.S. dollar in the country’s economy. One may question the current real benefits …
Adoption / Sept. 7, 2022
El Salvador's Bitcoin decision: Tracking adoption a year later
El Salvador, the small Central American nation that made history just over a year ago when it made Bitcoin (BTC), recently marked its first year of BTC adoption. The Salvadoran government touted BTC as a tool to attract foreign investment, create new jobs and cut reliance on the United States dollar in the country’s economy at the time of adoption. Many BTC proponents and the libertarian community rallied behind the small nation despite mounting pressure from global organizations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to remove BTC as a legal tender. A lot has changed over …
Adoption / Sept. 23, 2022