Layer1 mired in legal fight over Texas facility

Borrowing a page from the founders of Bitmain, the co-founders of the Peter Thiel-backed block reward mining company, Layer1 Technologies Inc., are mixing it up in court over ownership rights to one of the company’s core assets. 

Jakov Dolic, co-founder and former president of the U.S.-based company, filed a complaint on October 30 with the District Court in the Western District of Texas Pecos Division against his former business partner, Alexander Liegl, Layer1’s co-founder and CEO.  

The complaint alleges that after Liegl failed to garner a previously touted $50 million investment to build out a large digital currency mining facility, Dolic spent $16.24 million of his own funds to purchase a power substation facility from a firm called Hodl Ranch in Ward County, Texas. The filing further alleges that Dolic then spent another $3.5 million to expand the power facility with an additional 50 megawatt-hour of capacity.

Dolic claims that he agreed to fund these expenses because he had an agreement with Leigl that Layer1 would refund him the money after Liegl completed a successful round of fundraising. According to the accusations, Dolic did not get anything for his investment, while Liegl “took legal title to the properties.” 

“Other than Dolic’s contributions, Layer1 had no source of income or capital,” the complaint read. “On information and belief, Liegl never contributed any money of his own or raised any money from venture capitalists.”

The filing alleges Liegl paid himself “significant ‘consulting’ fees” without Dolic’s knowledge and authorization, causing their relationship to deteriorate. Further, Dolic claims that after he confronted Liegl over “unauthorized and wasteful spending of Layer1’s operating capital,” Liegl forced him out of the company, causing him to forfeit 75% of common shares he owned. 

Dolic alleges that when Layer1 faced a cash crunch, Liegl recently decided to sell the substation at a low price” with the intention of completing the transactions before Dolic can protect his rights.” With the lawsuit, Dolic hopes to assert his equitably “rights to the properties that he bought directly from the seller,” even though Layer1 “technically” has ownership of the title. He is demanding a jury trial. 

The case docket shows the trial court has granted an ex parte motion filed by Dolic for an injunction against Layer1 from selling the power plant that’s at the center of the dispute.

Liegl was quoted by CoinDesk saying the “complaint is completely meritless and contains numerous allegations that are demonstrably and categorically false.” Leigl vowed that Layer1 would respond quickly to seek legal sanctions against Dolic and his counsel for “making false allegations that lack a reasonable basis.”

See also: Jackson Laskey’s presentation at CoinGeek Live, Transaction Processing: A Key to Drive Adoption of BSV Businesses