Thiel-backed fund was sold to Crypto last year

[ad_1]

A sale by investment fund Peter Thiel of its bitcoin holdings last year demonstrates growing corporate divestment from cryptocurrencies.

Founders Fund, a venture capital firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel in 2005, first invested in Bitcoin in 2014. Although it proceeded to purchase large amounts of different cryptocurrencies, both third of its overall crypto portfolio consisted of Bitcoin.

However, it was recently revealed that the fund had sold its entire crypto stake, eight years after making its initial bet. Founders Fund had sold the vast majority of its cryptocurrency portfolio by the end of March 2022.

Having occurred before Terra triggered sequential crypto crises in May, the fund generated approximately $1.8 billion in returns. Currently, the fund has no significant exposure to cryptocurrencies.

Part of the Greater Selloff

The Founders Funds crypto divestment came as part of a strategic sell-off by the investment fund. Between 2020 and the end of last year, the fund had sold its stake in nine of its biggest investments, bringing in $13 billion to investors. These included initial public offerings from companies the fund had backed since their first rounds, such as Airbnb and Palantir.

With a pair of funds that brought in $5 billion in capital last year, Founders Fund currently has more than $11 billion under management. Since its inception, the company has made strategic investments in more than 100 companies.

These include Elon Musks SpaceX, ride-sharing app Lyft and defense technology group Anduril. He is currently planning to acquire a $29 billion stake in OpenAI, the developer of the chatbot ChatGPT.

Crypto investment pivot

The news of the sales demonstrates a pivot that took place in cryptocurrency investments last year. Tesla also sold around three-quarters of its bitcoin holdings later in July last year. In addition to the price crash, many financial institutions have steered clear of crypto for fear of cybersecurity and money laundering.

But while many of these companies eschew direct exposure to crypto, they have instead focused their investments on stakes in crypto companies or the underlying technology. Last month, Goldman Sachs announced plans to buy or invest in crypto companies, seeing an opportunity following the FTX crash.

Although JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called Bitcoin a fraud, his company has invested in a dedicated blockchain division.

Disclaimer

BeInCrypto has reached out to a company or individual involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to receive a response.

[ad_2]