Prime Blockchain inc. (PrimeBlock), a digital asset mining and infrastructure provider, announced that Gaurav Budhrani, former Goldman Sachs VP who was spearheading the crypto investment banking coverage, and Alan Konevsky, most recently Interim CEO and Chief Legal Officer at tZERO Group and former Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, have been appointed respectively as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Legal Officer (CLO). PrimeBlock strives to solidify itself as one of the leading vertically integrated and sustainable mining operations and infrastructure companies in North America.
The United States’ share of Bitcoin hash rate doubled in 2021 reaching 35.4%, while the global Bitcoin mining industry is estimated at over $20 billion and growing. With mining operations in North Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Canada, PrimeBlock is committed to substantial growth of their mining operations across North America and beyond. As of today, the company operates approximately 1,000 PH/s in hashing capacity which is equivalent to approximately 0.6% of the total global Bitcoin hash rate. The company expects to increase investment in modular data center technology, latest generation mining hardware and captive renewable power to provide increased infrastructure support for its growing bitcoin mining activities.
PrimeBlock is a member of the Bitcoin Mining Council, a voluntary global forum formed in 2021 with a shared mission to promote transparent energy usage and accelerate environmentally sustainable mining worldwide. It consists of 29 mining and DeFi companies, representing 33% of Bitcoin’s mining network including Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital.
The company aims to lead the way to sustainable growth of the industry in North America while uplifting local communities in areas with abundant energy, driven by a blue chip institutional grade team with experience across cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, cross-border supply chains, software, capital markets and disruptive innovation.
Prior to his appointment as PrimeBlock’s new CEO, Gaurav Budhrani spent over 12 years as a software engineer and investment banker. In his most recent role, Gaurav was spearheading Crypto Investment Banking coverage at Goldman Sachs. With more than a decade of investment banking experience, Gaurav has completed over $300bn of transactions across cryptocurrencies, semiconductors, software, and energy, including the $98bn direct listing for Coinbase.
“I am incredibly excited to join PrimeBlock and partner with leaders in the bitcoin mining and crypto ecosystem. It is an exciting time for the bitcoin mining industry, as we’ve seen it increase over four times in size in 2021 to well over $20 billion annually”, stated Gaurav Budhrani. “We have a very unique opportunity to drive continued growth and innovation at every layer of the stack, by building efficient modular data center containers, partnering with key suppliers for hardware and power infrastructure, developing adjacent software applications and laying the groundwork for captive renewable power generation on our sites.”
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Alan Konevsky, who is joining PrimeBlock as the new CLO, has been the Interim CEO and CLO and Board Secretary of Overstock’s digital assets venture tZERO, and serves on the board of directors of Boston Security Token Exchange. Prior to that, Alan held senior roles at Mastercard, Goldman Sachs and Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and London, with a focus on financial services and other highly-regulated industries, technology and strategic initiatives.
“As the financial system is entering the secular adoption phase for digital assets and infrastructure, PrimeBlock is optimally-positioned to leverage its mining and hosting footprint to drive responsible growth and innovation across the digital ecosystem. I am delighted to join the terrific PrimeBlockexecutive team and founders to drive that journey using our solid asset base, vision and shared values,” said Konevsky.
Chandler Song, Co-Founder of PrimeBlock, commented: “I am delighted that Gaurav and Alan will be joining us as CEO and CLO respectively. Both of them in their respective leadership roles bring a strong track record and unique perspectives across crypto, capital markets and the ever evolving regulatory landscape. Furthermore, Gaurav and Alan bring a motivating drive which is closely aligned with the core values and culture at PrimeBlock.”
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