“When you’re building a decentralized network, you don’t want to do that in centralized infrastructure.”
Jaime Leverton is a tech veteran from Canada with more than two decades of experience in finance. Since December 2020, she has worked as the CEO of Hut 8, one of the largest publicly traded digital asset mining firms.
Leverton earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science from the University of Ottawa and went on to receive her Master of Business Administration from Dalhousie University in 2000. Before diving into cryptocurrency, Leverton worked in various senior executive roles at some of Canada’s most prominent tech firms, including eStruxture Data Centers, Cogeco Peer 1, National Bank, BlackBerry, Bell Canada and IBM Canada.
Hut 8 was founded in 2017 and provides high-performance computing, digital asset mining and miner repair services to support the Bitcoin mining community. It remains one of the largest public holders of BTC, with more than 8,000 BTC in its reserves.
Under Leverton’s leadership, Hut 8 saw record revenues as mining profitability soared in March, according to its financial results. However, the firm’s net income declined as the broader digital asset market struggled through the bear market. Despite many crypto miners selling their mined Bitcoin in 2022, Hut 8 held on. In July, the firm added to its massive reserves and maintained what was described as a “HODL strategy.”
The crypto mining firm reported a 375 BTC increase in its holdings in its mining report for August 2022, bringing its total reserves to 8,111 BTC. The company highlighted that it mined at a rate of 125.8 BTC per exahash during the month. In a November report, the firm stated its intent to pursue “legal remedies” against its power supplier Validus Power Corp, alleging that the supplier failed to achieve key operational milestones and demanded higher payments for energy, which Hut 8 claimed was higher than agreed.
Apart from the company’s achievements in 2022, Leverton advocated for Bitcoin by doing interviews in various publications and media outlets. The executive also continued to advocate for women’s empowerment in the crypto and tech space.
While 2022 was an eventful year for Hut 8, the firm is expected to continue participating in the crypto ecosystem by providing its services to members of the crypto community. The firm will also likely maintain its long-term Bitcoin holding strategy. At the start of January, the company progressed with its lawsuit with Validus and demanded compensation for “monetary damages incurred as a result of the dispute” and its alleged failure to meet its contractual obligations.
Meanwhile, Leverton is also expected to continue to impact the ecosystem by engaging with community members through events and media interviews. In January, the Hut 8 CEO attended the World Economic Forum in Davos and participated in various interviews and discussions.
