Written by: Zen, PANews
The U.S. publicly listed mining company BitMine has garnered widespread attention for becoming the world's largest corporate holder of Ethereum. With the disclosure of on-chain data, there has been a renewed discussion about the role and impact of institutions in crypto asset allocation. Besides Tom Lee, chairman of BitMine's board, who is always in the media spotlight 'cheering on' ETH, a name has been frequently mentioned again—Peter Thiel.
As one of the most controversial and forward-looking investors in Silicon Valley, Thiel showed interest in Bitcoin and the potential of decentralization early on and has placed several bets in the crypto industry through his fund. Thiel's investment trajectory not only reflects his judgment on future technological trends but also has shaped the landscape of today's crypto market to a certain extent.
Godfather of the PayPal Mafia
If one were to find a core figure for the famous story of the 'PayPal Mafia', its 'godfather' Peter Thiel is undoubtedly the most suitable.
In 1998, Thiel, along with Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, and others, co-founded Fieldlink, which was later renamed Confinity. Due to the commercial failure of its handheld device security software development business, the company quickly shifted its focus to digital wallets and launched the first version of the PayPal electronic payment system in 1999. In March 2000, Confinity merged with the online financial services company X.com, founded by Elon Musk and others, and officially changed its name to PayPal in June 2021.
In 2002, eBay announced the acquisition of this newly listed company for approximately $1.5 billion in an all-stock transaction, marking Peter Thiel's first significant leap in wealth as co-founder and first CEO.
Thiel and Musk
After PayPal's sale, members of the 'PayPal Mafia' dispersed throughout Silicon Valley, starting a new wave of entrepreneurship and investment. Among them, Thiel's $500,000 convertible bond investment in Facebook in 2004 is often seen as one of the most representative early investment cases in Silicon Valley. At that time, Facebook's valuation was only $4.9 million; as its first external investor, Thiel obtained a 10.2% stake and joined the company's board. After Facebook went public in 2012, Thiel successively cashed out over $1.1 billion.
In fact, as early as 1996, Thiel began his venture capital career. At that time, he raised $1 million with the help of family and friends, investing $100,000 in a network calendar project by his friend Luke Nosek, which ended in failure. Following that, on the advice of Luke's friend Max Levchin, the group partnered to create a cryptography-related company called Fieldlink, which later transformed and eventually became PayPal.
After years of wandering in Silicon Valley and successfully investing in Facebook, Thiel began to reshape his investment vehicle and philosophy. In 2005, he co-founded Founders Fund with old partners like Luke Nosek, initially focusing on defense-related startups and technologies. Thiel's own data company Palantir, founded in 2003, also focused on anti-terrorism and anti-fraud as early landing scenarios, quickly growing into one of the important data infrastructure providers for the U.S. government and large institutions. Palantir's stock price has increased 20-fold in the past five years, earning it the title of a true national fortune stock.
After achieving massive financial success with Facebook, Founders Fund shifted its focus to hard technology, aiming to support startups that have the potential to 'elevate civilization to a new height'. Besides Facebook, Thiel also made early investments in various leading companies across different fields through personal investments or Founders Fund, including Airbnb, LinkedIn, SpaceX, Stripe, and DeepMind.
It is worth mentioning that Thiel also operated an investment management and hedge fund Clarium Capital in 2002, which promoted a global macro strategy. The assets managed by Clarium rapidly grew to $8 billion in 2008, but a series of unprofitable investments and client redemptions led to its managed assets shrinking to about $350 million by 2011.
From the founding and sale of PayPal, to the 'legendary early investment' in Facebook, and the formation of Founders Fund and Palantir, Thiel basically completed the role transformation of 'entrepreneur—angel—venture capital partner—industry opinion leader' in the first decade of the 21st century. This process brought him considerable capital strength, networking resources, and the ability to consistently stay at the forefront of technology, quietly building a bridge for his entry into the crypto world in the near future.
Made $1.8 billion in the cryptocurrency cycle
Among the multitude of capital in Silicon Valley, Thiel is one of the well-known investors who first intersected with the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
In September 2014, Thiel announced the latest list of recipients for the 'Thiel Fellowship', with 20 young people shortlisted, including 20-year-old Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. This fellowship is a two-year startup funding program launched by Thiel through the Thiel Foundation in 2010, aimed at young people under 22 who have not yet obtained a college degree, encouraging them to 'drop out to start a business or do research'. In addition to cash funding, the program also offers mentoring and networking support without taking equity in the founders' companies. As Ethereum rapidly developed, Vitalik quickly became a representative figure of the Thiel Fellowship.
Vitalik Buterin introduced Ethereum at the 2014 Miami Bitcoin Summit.
Before funding Vitalik, Thiel had already shown concern and support for the early blockchain industry. In 2013, Founders Fund led the $2 million seed round financing for cryptocurrency payment company BitPay. At that time, cryptocurrency payments were still in their infancy, and the outside world interpreted this as a top Silicon Valley fund beginning to explore 'payment-side' crypto applications, betting on its prospects for compliance and merchant acceptance.
Another well-known investment of Thiel in the cryptocurrency sector is Block.one and Bullish, the former being the parent company of the public chain project EOS, and the latter being the cryptocurrency exchange launched by Block.one in 2021. In 2018, Block.one announced it had secured strategic investments from investors including Peter Thiel and Bitmain. In 2021, Block.one led the incubation of the institutional cryptocurrency trading platform Bullish, claiming an investment scale of up to approximately $10 billion, with Peter Thiel, Alan Howard, and Louis Bacon listed as early key supporters.
In 2019, mining infrastructure company Layer1 announced it had secured $50 million in financing, with Peter Thiel as one of the investors. Layer1 aims to build comprehensive capabilities from power and chips to self-built mining farms in the U.S., aligning with Thiel's consistent investment preference for 'infrastructure and upstream control'.
In addition to supporting early crypto projects as an investor, the returns Thiel obtained from directly investing in cryptocurrencies may be even more astonishing. According to Reuters, as one of the earliest institutional investors in cryptocurrencies, Founders Fund began purchasing Bitcoin heavily in 2014, liquidating its holdings before the cryptocurrency market crashed in 2022, achieving a staggering return of about $1.8 billion.
Additionally, sources say that Founders Fund resumed buying cryptocurrencies in the summer of 2023, investing $200 million to purchase BTC and ETH within a few months. Reuters was unable to ascertain the average prices of these purchases, but at that time, BTC prices were below $30,000, while ETH fluctuated between $1,500 and $1,900. Reuters commented: 'The love for cryptocurrencies aligns with Thiel's interests as a billionaire in libertarianism, small government, and technological innovation.'
Increase investment in cryptocurrencies
In recent years, Thiel has repeatedly stood up for Bitcoin. In public, he has frequently praised Bitcoin's function as 'digital gold', calling it a hedge against inflation and central bank policies. In October 2021, at an event hosted by Lincoln Network in Miami, Thiel was invited to share his views on cryptocurrencies, central banks, and macro issues, stating that he felt he had not invested enough in Bitcoin and said, 'All you have to do is buy Bitcoin.'
It turns out that what Thiel said was not false. In recent years, Thiel seems to have increased his investment in cryptocurrencies, as his Founders Fund's investment strategy and focus have shifted towards the crypto space.
Thiel praised Bitcoin enthusiastically at the 2022 Bitcoin Conference held in Miami, Florida.
In May 2023, former Pantera co-CIO Joey Krug joined Founders Fund as a partner. Krug stated on the X platform: 'I will focus on developing the Founders Fund's crypto strategy for the next decade, while looking for the next wave of promising crypto startups and founders.' With Krug's addition, Founders Fund began to shift towards treating crypto as a regular investment category.
During the recent craze for corporate crypto treasuries, Thiel once again became a 'behind-the-scenes winner'. In mid-2025, Bitcoin mining company Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced a shift in its 'corporate treasury' strategy towards Ethereum (ETH), appointing Fundstrat co-founder and well-known macro analyst Tom Lee as chairman, and launching a $250 million private placement. In mid-July, as one of the company's most important shareholders, Thiel disclosed he held about 9.1%. Following the news, the company's stock price soared nearly 15% in early trading.
According to Strategicethreserve data, the publicly traded company Bitmine has reached about 1.2 million Ethereum holdings, with a market value exceeding $5 billion, ranking first among Ethereum treasury companies, significantly ahead of the second-ranked Sharplink Gaming—holding about 728,800 Ethereum valued at approximately $3.25 billion.
Additionally, Thiel's early investments from four years ago are starting to pay off. In August 2025, Bullish went public on the NYSE and surged on its first day, marking Thiel's long-term bet on 'institutional trading infrastructure' officially entering the public capital market.
Power broker, Thiel's political influence layout
In addition to achieving commercial success in fintech and cryptocurrency, Peter Thiel's influence extends to Washington's power center. As a 'super capitalist in the tech world', Thiel's role in American politics is significant; he has long laid out his influence in the White House and Congress by funding candidates and establishing political-business connections.
As one of the few Republican supporters in Silicon Valley, he publicly backed Trump during the 2016 presidential election. In an environment where nearly everyone in Silicon Valley opposed Trump, Thiel's high-profile support was indeed unusual, but as a 'self-proclaimed libertarian who believes in capitalism', he also valued Trump's anti-establishment stance.
In terms of political donations and networking, Thiel is also very active. In 2016, as an important ally of Trump, Thiel donated $1.25 million to Trump's campaign team and became a member of the presidential transition team.
In addition, the Los Angeles Times pointed out that he has long invested in Republican candidates, especially in the new generation of conservative politicians related to the tech industry. For example, he donated a record-breaking $15 million to his protégé—former employee and current U.S. Vice President JD Vance, which is the highest single-person donation in Ohio's Senate campaign history. He also introduced Vance to Trump, helping Vance secure Trump's endorsement, which also indirectly helped Trump find a 'golden partner' for his later presidential campaign and second term.
Thiel, JD Vance, and Trump
Another Silicon Valley new star, Blake Masters, who formerly served as COO of Thiel's fund office and co-authored Thiel's entrepreneurial book (Zero to One), also received Thiel's support and mentoring in pursuing a political path. Thiel invested over $10 million in the super PAC supporting both of their campaigns.
Major U.S. media outlets have described Thiel as a 'power broker' or 'big donor' in the Republican tech community. Business Insider even referred to him as the 'Republican king', an early supporter of Trump who became the first Silicon Valley tech investor to fulfill donations in 2016.
It is worth mentioning that Thiel's attitude towards Trump's camp has changed. In 2023, The Guardian reported that Thiel stated in an interview with The Atlantic that his 'support for Trump's decision felt like a 'disconnected cry for help'; things had become crazier and more dangerous than imagined.' The report also stated that Trump was very unhappy when he called Thiel to solicit a $10 million donation earlier in 2023 and was refused. Ultimately, Thiel did not participate in funding the 2024 political campaign.
