Trump backer Peter Thiel reportedly made $1.8 billion cashing in 8-year bet on crypto as he still touted massive bitcoin price surge

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Peter Thiel’s fund earned $1.8 billion cashing in on his crypto positions last year, according to the Financial Times. Marco Bello/Getty Images

Peter Thiel’s fund closed nearly all of its crypto positions shortly before prices crashed last year, according to the Financial Times.

Founders Fund made $1.8 billion by cashing in on its digital asset bet, according to the publication.

Thiel predicted that the price of bitcoin would rise 100x around the same time his fund sells his crypto holdings.

Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm reportedly made $1.8 billion closing its crypto positions last year around the time bitcoin’s top bull was still predicting the token’s price to rise 100x.

Founders Fund had cashed out nearly all of its digital asset bets by March 2022, according to a Financial Times report citing people familiar with the matter.

But Thiel was still supporting bitcoin when he spoke at a crypto conference in Miami the following month.

“We are at the end of the fiat currency regime,” he said, adding that the price of the token could increase 100 times from its level of $44,000 at the time.

This prediction turned out to be wrong, as rising interest rates and bankruptcies of top companies like Celsius Network, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX dragged the crypto sector into a prolonged slump. Bitcoin fell more than 60% in 2022 and was trading below $17,000 at the end of the year.

Founders Fund started pouring money into crypto in 2014 when bitcoin was trading at around $750. By the time bitcoin hit its all-time high in November 2021, it had jumped 8,500% from that level.

Thiel has a long track record as one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent technology investors.

He took early stakes in start-ups such as Facebook, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and ride-sharing app Lyft, and co-founded PayPal in 1998.

Thiel is also a prominent Republican Party supporter and has continued to voice his support for Donald Trump since the former president left office in January 2021.

The fund held around two-thirds of its portfolio in the token at one point, but now has no significant exposure to crypto, according to FT sources.

The story continues

Founders Fund did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Read more: Meme-stock billionaire Ryan Cohen has built a stake in Chinese tech giant Alibaba worth hundreds of millions and is reportedly ready to push for share buybacks

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