Influential venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal Holdings PYPL and Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Peter Thiel, is known for his early conviction in Bitcoin BTC/USD, and his Founders Fund has been reaping substantial gains from the asset.
What happened: The San Francisco-based venture capital fund reportedly began buying into the leading cryptocurrency in 2014, making a handsome $1.8 billion by selling before the 2022 market collapse.
However, the firm made a bold return, parking nearly $100 million in Bitcoin between late summer and early fall of 2023.
Interestingly, Bitcoin was trading in the $25,000-$30,000 range at the time, right before the bullish run that would propel the asset to unprecedented levels.
Taking $30,000 as a ballpark figure, let's assume you invested $1,000 in Bitcoin at the time. It would have fetched you 0.033 BTC.
Cut to Dec. 2024, Bitcoin has scaled the $100,000 milestone, exchanging hands at $102,550 as of this writing.
This would boost your Bitcoin portfolio to $3,384.15, marking an impressive 238.15% return.
Furthermore, if we extend the same methodology to Founders Fund investments, presuming they haven't yet cashed out, a $100 million investment at $30,000 per unit BTC would equal $338.15 million today.
Why It Matters: Interestingly, Thiel, in an interview in July, appeared doubtful about Bitcoin's potential for future growth.
"I'm not sure it's going to go up that dramatically from here. We got the ETF edition, and I don't know who else buys it," he had said.
His views were influenced by the digital asset’s increased mainstreaming or corporatization, a departure from its initial vision as a cypherpunk, crypto-anarchist, and anti-establishment freedom tool.
That said, Thiel, who personally holds Bitcoin, regretted not buying more of the digital currency.
Price Action: As of this writing, Bitcoin was trading at $101,824.80, up 5.44% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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