Written by Anna Tong and Crystal Hu
(Reuters) – Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, is investing in Bitcoin and Ether again, people said, sparking Silicon Valley's renewed interest in the cryptocurrency market. It shows what it shows.
In late summer and early fall last year, the fund invested $200 million in acquiring crypto tokens, half in Bitcoin and the other half in Ether, the two largest cryptocurrencies. Two people with direct knowledge told Reuters.
A previously unreported move by Silicon Valley's prominent venture capital firm is a move by some institutional investors to invest in tokens, which was the hottest investment strategy before the crypto market crash in 2022. This highlighted the fact that the house is regressing.
The huge bet will see a resurgence of the struggling crypto market in 2022 after the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and other big players drove down prices, tainted the industry and prompted a regulatory crackdown. It shows.
In 2022, the price of Bitcoin plummeted to nearly $15,000, the lowest since 2020.
Bitcoin and Ethereum prices have gradually risen over the past year, with Bitcoin this week hitting $50,000 for the first time in over two years, but still below its November 2021 high of $69,000. There is.
As one of the early institutional investors in cryptocurrencies, Founders Fund began actively buying Bitcoin in 2014, but liquidated it before the cryptocurrency market crashed in 2022, with approximately It made a profit of $1.8 billion.
Founders Fund began acquiring Bitcoin last summer when the price was below $30,000, and bought more Bitcoin and Ether over the course of several months, the people added. Reuters was unable to determine the average price of these purchases.
A spokeswoman for the foundation declined to comment.
Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has publicly praised Bitcoin, a currency based on blockchain technology that exists outside the jurisdiction of central banks, saying it is a store of value like gold. , said it was a hedge against the central bank's monetary policy.
The affinity for cryptocurrencies coincides with the billionaire's interest in libertarianism, small government, and technological innovation.
Founders Fund, known for its early bets on companies like SpaceX and Meta, currently manages more than $12 billion in assets. The company hired Joey Krug as a partner in April 2023 to focus on cryptocurrency investment.
(Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco and Crystal Hu in Toronto; Editing by Kenneth Lee and Sonali Paul)
