Peter Thiel’s Founders’ Fund has reportedly invested between 15 and 20 million dollars into the volatile digital currency, Bitcoin.
Thiel’s fund has already announced hundreds of millions of dollars in profit thanks to 2017’s meteoric rise in Bitcoin value, from about $1,000 per coin to nearly $20,000. But that high dropped to around $12,000 during December, scaring away investors like Michael Novogratz who “didn’t like market conditions for new investors.”
The risk is as high as the reward, characteristic of many of Thiel’s major investments. Other ventures have included Airbnb Inc., Lyft, SpaceX and, years ago, a little social media start-up known as Facebook. Now Thiel and his fund are buying bitcoin outright, as opposed to investing in other companies doing the gambling.
Already, Bitcoin represents the most profitable portion of the recent $1.3 billion Founders’ Fund VI. And while it has the potential to multiply its value several times over in the coming years, it also has the chance to end its run with a significant loss.
South Korea, who until recently represented nearly a quarter of all bitcoin trading, is tightening restrictions on the market out of fear for its potentially catastrophic fluctuations in value. Bitcoin continues to make international headlines on an almost daily basis, and Thiel seems to be effectively leveraging that furor.
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