Marek starts mining bitcoins on his own but realizes that mining solo is becoming less profitable due to increasing difficulty.
Marek creates Slush Pool, the first publicly available mining pool, to enable miners to cooperate and mine bitcoin together. It continues today as Braiins.
Slush Pool is becoming more and more of a target for hackers, which prompts the need to find a solution to enhance the security of the mining pool and Bitcoin custody itself.
Pavol and Marek meet at brmlab hackerspace Prague in 2011 and the story of SatoshiLabs begins. Both bitcoin and open-source enthusiasts, they start exploring ideas for creating a secure and intuitive cryptocurrency storage solution out of pure curiosity and interest, with no business motivation.
During their exploration, they meet Alena Vránová and together lay the foundation for SatoshiLabs. Using the concept of isolating private keys in a separate environment, they create a few prototypes.
The team have their first hardware wallet prototype ready. Although it isn’t pretty to look at or designed for mass production, the prototype is functional and proves that their concept can be realized.
As the project continues to grow and receive feedback from the community, the full potential comes into focus.
Marek, Pavol, and Alena starts fundraising efforts, leading to the establishment of SatoshiLabs as a legally incorporated company.
Through successful fundraising via preorders, the founders are able to develop, manufacture, and deliver the world's original cryptocurrency hardware wallet, the Trezor Model One.
The team grows with the addition of its initial recruits. The first batch of preorders, consisting of approximately 1000 devices, is successfully shipped. Soon after, an official Trezor Shop is launched online for public access.
Business expands with the growing popularity of the bitcoin community. Continuous development efforts result in widespread adoption of Trezor, which leads to the unveiling of the Trezor Model T prototype in 2016.
The next-gen hardware wallet starts shipping in 2018, featuring a touchscreen interface, enhanced passphrase entry, and increased privacy features.
With the rapid growth of the crypto industry comes numerous opportunities, including services beyond hardware. Trezor's CFO, Stepan, quickly seizes one such opportunity, leading to the birth of Invity.
Invity aims to create an independent ecosystem that supports bitcoin adoption and onboarding while complementing Trezor.
SatoshiLabs and Trezor are in need for a truly secure and transparent chip to continue building products with indisputable security. Enter Tropic Square.
Tropic Square prioritizes security in chip design, diverging from industry norms by openly sharing results and technical details. They strive to create innovative solutions that place security at the forefront while maintaining transparency, setting them apart from industry norms.
At Chaincamp 2022, we unveil Vexl, a mobile app that aims to bring the power of bitcoin back into the hands of the people. For far too long, bitcoin has been controlled by institutions, making it inaccessible to the average person. But with Vexl, we're changing that.
Vexl is a peer-to-peer crypto trading app that allows users to buy and sell bitcoin directly within their community, without the need for middlemen or centralized exchanges.
While the industry is still young and figuring itself out, we're paving the way with our innovative approach to drive positive change.
Each company dances to their own tune, pursuing their unique ventures, but together we’re strengthening the power and independence of the individual.
But we can't do it alone. We’re on the lookout for forward thinkers to join our cause and help us push the boundaries of what's possible.
Ready to rock the tech world with us?
