Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel has purchased $15 million to $20 million worth of cryptocurrencies through his venture capital firm, Founders Fund, the The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources “familiar with the matter.”
The news spurred a hike in Bitcoin (Bitcoin) prices to over $15,000 after an unwavering downturn over the holiday break.
In October, Thiel spoke positively about cryptocurrency, and in particular about Bitcoin, saying:
“While I’m skeptical of most [cryptocurrencies], I do think people are a little bit underestimating Bitcoin, specifically, because it is like a reserve form of money. If Bitcoin ends up being the cyber equivalent of gold, it has great potential.”
Thiel’s love of alternate currencies go years back to his days as a PayPal founder. In a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Q&A in 2014, Thiel said his original goal at PayPal was to create a new currency much like Bitcoin.
“PayPal built a payment system but failed in its goal in creating a “new world currency” (our slogan from back in 2000),” wrote Thiel. “Bitcoin seems to have created a new currency (at least on the level of speculation), but the payment system is badly lacking.”
“I will become more bullish on Bitcoin when I see the payment volume of Bitcoin really increase.”
Thiel’s gamble has been spread across several of the firm’s most recent funds and one bet began in mid-2017, but it is unclear when exactly the Founders Fund began investing in Bitcoin. It’s also unclear whether Founders Fund has sold any cryptocurrency holdings since initial purchase.