Peter Thiel Made $200M Investment in BTC, ETH Before Bull Run: Reuters

• Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has made a $200 million investment in bitcoin and ether
• Thiel's fund sold crypto holdings for $1.8 billion before 2022's crypto winter.

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund made a $200 million investment in bitcoin and ether before the bull run, per report by Reuters.

According to CoinDesk Indices data, bitcoin (BTC) has increased nearly 124% in the last 12 months, while ether (ETH) has risen 75%. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) has rallied approximately 86% in the same period.

Founders Fund started to purchase bitcoin when it was below $30,000 and acquired more BTC and ETH in the subsequent months, sources told Reuters.

Thiel has long been a proponent of bitcoin, linking its price rise to a critique of central banks and fiat money. During the 2021 bull run, he said he felt "underinvested" in the world's largest digital asset.

Founders Fund sold most of its crypto holdings for $1.8 billion in March 2022, just before crypto winter began, the Financial Times reported last year. Founders Fund made a previous investment in bitcoin to the tune of $15 to $20 million during the 2017-2018 bull market.

Thiel also backed the Bullish group, operator of an institutional crypto exchange, in a 2021 round, two years before it purchased CoinDesk from Digital Currency Group.

UPDATE (July 15, 2024, 19:25 UTC): Adds timing details to disclosure about Thiel's Bullish investment.