From Facebook to Bitcoin, making 1.8 billion dollars: The decryption of Silicon Valley godfather Peter Thiel's crypto empire.
The US-listed mining company BitMine has attracted widespread market attention for becoming the largest enterprise-level holder of Ethereum in the world.
With the unveiling of on-chain data, there has been a new round of discussion about the role and impact of institutions in the allocation of crypto assets. In addition to Tom Lee, the chairman of BitMine who always seems to be in the media spotlight and is known for promoting ETH, one 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 decentralized potential early on, repeatedly betting in the crypto industry through his fund. Thiel's investment trajectory not only reflects his judgment of future technological trends but also shapes the landscape of today's crypto market to some extent.
PayPal mafia godfather
If there is a core figure in the famous story of the 'PayPal mafia,' its 'godfather' Peter Thiel is undoubtedly the most suitable.
In 1998, Thiel co-founded Fieldlink with Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, and others, 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 was officially renamed PayPal in June 2021.
In 2002, eBay announced it would acquire this newly listed company for about 1.5 billion dollars in an all-stock deal, marking Peter Thiel's first significant wealth leap as a co-founder and the first CEO.
Thiel and Musk
After the sale of PayPal, members of the 'PayPal mafia' dispersed throughout Silicon Valley, initiating a new wave of entrepreneurship and investment. Among them, Thiel's 500,000 dollars convertible note investment in Facebook in 2004 is often regarded as one of the most representative early investment cases in Silicon Valley. At that time, Facebook was valued at only 4.9 million dollars, and as its first external investor, Thiel acquired a 10.2% stake and joined the company's board. After Facebook went public in 2012, Thiel subsequently cashed out over 1.1 billion dollars.
In fact, as early as 1996, Thiel had begun his venture capital career. At that time, he raised 1 million dollars with the support of family and friends and invested 100,000 dollars in a calendar project by his friend Luke Nosek, which ended in failure. Later, on the advice of Luke's friend Max Levchin, they partnered to establish a cryptographic-related company, Fieldlink, which later transformed and ultimately became PayPal.
After years of navigating Silicon Valley and successfully investing in Facebook, Thiel began reshaping his investment vehicles and philosophy. In 2005, he co-founded Founders Fund with former partners like Luke Nosek, initially focusing on defense-related startups and technologies.
Thiel himself founded the data company Palantir in 2003, which quickly grew to become one of the important data infrastructure providers for the US government and large organizations, initially focusing on counter-terrorism and anti-fraud applications. Palantir's stock price has also increased twentyfold in the past five years, being hailed as a genuine national fortune stock.
After achieving tremendous financial success with Facebook, Founders Fund shifted its focus to hard technology, aiming to support startups with the potential to 'elevate civilization to a new height.' Besides Facebook, Thiel has made early investments in many leading companies across various fields, including Airbnb, LinkedIn, SpaceX, Stripe, and DeepMind, either through personal investments or Founders Fund.
It is worth mentioning that Thiel also operated a global macro strategy investment management and hedge fund, Clarium Capital, in 2002, which saw its managed assets grow rapidly to 8 billion dollars in 2008, but a series of unprofitable investments and client redemptions led to its assets shrinking to about 350 million dollars in 2011.
From the founding and sale of PayPal to the 'legendary early investment' in Facebook, and then to the formation of Founders Fund and Palantir, Thiel has essentially completed the transformation of roles from 'entrepreneur—angel investor—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 stay at the forefront of technology, quietly building a bridge for his future entry into the crypto world.
Making 1.8 billion dollars during the cryptocurrency cycle
Among the multitude of Silicon Valley capital, Thiel is one of the earliest well-known investors to intersect with cryptocurrencies and the blockchain industry.
In September 2014, Thiel announced the latest batch of 'Thiel Fellowships,' which included 20 young people, among them Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, who was just 20 years old at the time.
The fellowship is a two-year entrepreneurial funding project launched by Thiel through the Thiel Foundation in 2010, aimed at young people aged 22 and under who do not yet have a college degree, encouraging them to 'drop out to start a business or do research.'
In addition to cash funding, the project also offers mentorship and networking support without taking equity in the founder's company. With the rapid development of Ethereum, Vitalik soon became a representative figure of the Thiel Fellowship.
Vitalik Buterin introduced Ethereum at the 2014 Bitcoin Summit in Miami.
Before funding Vitalik, Thiel had already shown interest and support for the early blockchain industry.
In 2013, Founders Fund led a 2 million dollar seed round financing for crypto payment company BitPay. At that time, crypto payments were still in their infancy, and this was interpreted as a top-tier Silicon Valley fund beginning to experiment with the 'payment layer' of crypto applications, betting on its compliance and merchant acceptance prospects.
Another well-known investment by Thiel in the cryptocurrency industry is Block.one and Bullish, where the former is the parent company of the public chain project EOS, and the latter is the crypto exchange launched by Block.one in 2021. In 2018, Block.one announced a strategic investment from investors including Peter Thiel and Bitmain.
In 2021, Block.one also led the incubation of the institutional crypto trading platform Bullish, claiming to have raised approximately 10 billion dollars, with Peter Thiel, Alan Howard, and Louis Bacon listed as early key supporters.
In 2019, mining infrastructure company Layer1 announced it secured 50 million dollars in financing, with Peter Thiel as one of the investors. Layer1 aims to build a comprehensive capability from power, chips to self-built mines in the US, 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 through direct investments in cryptocurrencies may be even more astonishing. According to Reuters, as one of the earliest institutional investors in cryptocurrencies, Founders Fund began purchasing Bitcoin in large quantities as early as 2014, liquidating before the 2022 cryptocurrency market crash and achieving approximately 1.8 billion dollars in huge returns.
Additionally, sources say that Founders Fund resumed buying cryptocurrencies in the summer of 2023, investing 200 million dollars in Bitcoin and Ethereum over several months. Reuters could not ascertain the average prices of these purchases, but at the time, Bitcoin prices were below 30,000 dollars, while Ethereum fluctuated between 1,500 and 1,900 dollars. Reuters commented: 'The love for cryptocurrencies aligns with Thiel's interests as a billionaire in libertarianism, small government, and technological innovation.'
Increasing investment in cryptocurrencies
In recent years, Thiel has repeatedly stood up for Bitcoin. In public, he has praised Bitcoin multiple times for having the function of '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 banking, 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 Thiel's words are not empty. In recent years, he seems to have begun increasing his investments in cryptocurrencies, with the investment strategy and focus of Founders Fund shifting towards the crypto field.
Thiel praised Bitcoin 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 X platform: 'I will focus on developing the Founders Fund's crypto strategy for the next decade while looking for the next wave of crypto startups and founders worth supporting.' With Krug's addition, Founders Fund began shifting towards treating crypto as a regular investment category.
In the recent wave of listed corporate crypto treasury, Thiel again became a 'behind-the-scenes winner.' In mid-2025, Bitcoin mining company Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced it would shift its 'corporate treasury' strategy to Ethereum (ETH), appointing Fundstrat co-founder and renowned macro analyst Tom Lee as chairman and initiating a 250 million dollar private fundraising.
In mid-July, as one of the company's most important shareholders, Thiel disclosed that he holds approximately 9.1% of the shares. Following the announcement, the company’s stock price rose nearly 15% in early trading.
According to data from Strategicethreserve, US-listed company Bitmine's Ethereum holdings have reached approximately 1.2 million coins, with a market value exceeding 5 billion dollars, ranking first in Ethereum treasury companies, significantly ahead of the second-ranked Sharplink Gaming, which holds about 728,800 coins valued at approximately 3.25 billion dollars.
Additionally, Thiel's early layout from four years ago is also beginning to yield returns. In August 2025, Bullish is set to be listed on the NYSE and soared on its first day of trading, marking the formal entry of Thiel's long-term bet on 'institutional trading infrastructure' into the public capital market.
Power broker, Thiel's political influence layout
In addition to achieving commercial success in fintech and cryptocurrencies, Peter Thiel's influence has also reached the power centers of Washington. As a 'super capitalist of the tech world,' Thiel's role in American politics cannot be ignored; he has long laid out his influence in the White House and Congress through funding candidates and establishing political-business relationships.
As one of the few Republican supporters in Silicon Valley, he publicly aligned with Trump during the 2016 presidential election. In an environment where nearly everyone in Silicon Valley opposed Trump, Thiel's outspoken support was indeed unusual, but he, identifying as a 'self-proclaimed libertarian who believes in capitalism,' 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 dollars 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, particularly the new generation of conservative politicians with ties to the tech industry.
For example, he donated a record-breaking 15 million dollars to his mentee—former employee and current US Vice President JD Vance, which is the highest personal donation in Ohio's Senate campaign history. He also introduced Vance to Trump, helping Vance secure Trump's endorsement, indirectly helping Trump find a 'golden partner' for his later presidential campaign and second term.
Thiel, JD Vance, and Trump
Another Silicon Valley newcomer, Blake Masters, who previously served as the COO of the Thiel Foundation and is a collaborator on Thiel's entrepreneurial book (Zero to One), also received Thiel's support and promotion, collaborating on a political path. Thiel has invested over 10 million dollars in super PACs supporting both of their campaigns.
Several major media outlets in the US have described Thiel as a 'power broker' or 'big donor' in the Republican tech scene. (Business Insider) He has even been called the 'Republican kingmaker,' being an early supporter of Trump and the first Silicon Valley investor to cash in on 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 decisions feels like an incoherent cry for help,' noting that the developments are much crazier and more dangerous than expected.
Reports also indicate that Trump was displeased after calling Thiel for a 10 million dollar donation earlier in 2023 and being refused. Ultimately, Thiel did not participate in funding the 2024 political campaign.
This article is a collaborative reprint from: PANews
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