Peter Thiel’s VC Firm Founders Fund Made $200M Crypto Bet Last Year
San Francisco-based venture capital firm Founders Fund has once again jumped on the crypto bandwagon.
Reuters reported on Monday that Peter Thiel’s VC allocated $200m toward crypto from late summer to early fall of 2023. Half of this investment was directed towards Bitcoin, with the other half going into Ether, sources told the outlet.
The news coincides with Bitcoin’s rebound after a turbulent phase in the crypto industry, marked by numerous insolvencies and bankruptcies. Bitcoin skeptics, however, were dealt a blow this week as the price powered through $50,000 for the first time in two years.
Founders Fund’s recent crypto acquisition reportedly started last summer, when Bitcoin traded below $30,000. The fund kept buying more Bitcoin and Ether over a few months, but the exact prices weren’t disclosed.
A spokesperson for Founders Fund didn’t return Cryptonews’ request for comment by press time.
Founders Fund, founded by Peter Thiel, invested $200 million, half in Bitcoin and the other half in ETH, from late summer to early fall last year, when the price of Bitcoin was below $30,000, according to Reuters. https://t.co/I3BK30GiWG
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 13, 2024
Founders Fund’s Early Bitcoin Backing
Thiel was among the earliest prominent investors to back Bitcoin. His venture capital firm first entered the Bitcoin market in 2014 when prices were below $1,000, and steadily grew its investment over the next eight years.
Thiel and Founders Fund stand as some of Silicon Valley’s most triumphant figures. Having more than $12b in assets under management, Founders Fund has invested in over 100 companies, including names like Facebook, Airbnb, SpaceX, and Lyft.
Additionally, it has invested in blockchain infrastructure company Paxos and Ethereum scaling network Layer N.
Championing Bitcoin Maximalism
Thiel is not a fan of all cryptocurrencies, and has earlier described himself as a “pro-bitcoin maximalist.” In 2018, he described them as “charismatic.”
“While I’m skeptical of most of them, I do think people are a little bit underestimating bitcoin, specifically, because it is like a reserve form of money,” he said. “If bitcoin ends up being the cyber equivalent of gold, it has great potential.”
In 2021, he not only praised Bitcoin, but also criticized central banks for their monetary policies.
“[…] surely the fact that [bitcoin] is at 60,000 dollars is an extremely hopeful sign. It’s the canary in the coal mine. It’s the most honest market we have in the country, and it’s telling us that this decrepit … regime is just about to blow up,” Thiel said at a Stanford University event.
