The U.S.-listed mining company BitMine has drawn widespread market attention for becoming the world's largest corporate holder of Ethereum. With the disclosure of on-chain data, the role and influence of institutions in crypto asset allocation has sparked a new round of discussion. Beyond BitMine's chairman Tom Lee, who is constantly in the media spotlight hyping ETH, another name has been frequently mentioned amid the hype—Peter Thiel.
As one of Silicon Valley's most controversial and forward-thinking investors, Thiel showed early interest in the potential of Bitcoin and decentralization, placing multiple bets in the crypto industry through his funds. His investment trajectory not only reflects his judgment on future tech trends but has also shaped today's crypto market landscape to some extent.
PayPal Mafia Godfather
If there’s one central figure in the infamous "PayPal Mafia" story, its "godfather," Peter Thiel, is undoubtedly the most fitting.
In 1998, Thiel co-founded Fieldlink with Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, and others, later renamed Confinity. As its handheld device security software business struggled commercially, the company quickly pivoted to digital wallets and launched the first version of the PayPal electronic payment system in 1999. In March 2000, Confinity merged with X.com, an online financial services company founded by Elon Musk and others, and was officially renamed PayPal in June 2021.
In 2002, eBay announced its acquisition of the newly public company in an all-stock deal worth approximately $1.5 billion. As a co-founder and first CEO, Thiel completed his first major wealth leap.
After PayPal’s sale, the "PayPal Mafia" members scattered across Silicon Valley, sparking a new wave of entrepreneurship and investment. Among them, Thiel’s $500,000 convertible note investment in Facebook in 2004 later became one of Silicon Valley’s most iconic early-stage investments. At the time, Facebook was valued at just $4.9 million, and as its first external investor, Thiel secured a 10.2% stake and joined its board. After Facebook’s 2012 IPO, Thiel gradually cashed out over $1.1 billion.
In fact, Thiel began his venture capital career as early as 1996. Back then, he raised $1 million from friends and family and invested $100,000 in his friend Luke Nosek’s online calendar project, which ultimately failed. Later, on Max Levchin’s suggestion, the group partnered to create Fieldlink, a cryptography-related company that eventually transformed into PayPal.
After years in Silicon Valley and his successful Facebook investment, Thiel reshaped 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. Meanwhile, Palantir, the data company Thiel founded in 2003, quickly grew into a critical data infrastructure provider for the U.S. government and large institutions, with counterterrorism and anti-fraud as its early use cases. Palantir’s stock has surged 20-fold over the past five years, earning its reputation as a national champion stock.
After Facebook’s financial success, Founders Fund shifted its focus to hard tech, aiming to support startups with the potential to "elevate civilization to a new level." Beyond Facebook, Thiel made early-stage investments in many future industry leaders—including Airbnb, LinkedIn, SpaceX, Stripe, and DeepMind—through personal investments or Founders Fund.
Notably, in 2002, Thiel also ran Clarium Capital, an investment management and hedge fund pursuing global macro strategies. Its assets under management (AUM) skyrocketed to $8 billion by 2008 but shrank to about $350 million by 2011 due to unprofitable investments and client redemptions.
From PayPal’s founding and sale to the "god-tier early investment" in Facebook, and the formation of Founders Fund and Palantir, Thiel largely completed his transition from "entrepreneur—angel—VC partner—industry thought leader" in the first decade of the 21st century. This process endowed him with substantial capital, networks, and an ability to stay at tech’s cutting edge—quietly building a bridge for his eventual entry into crypto.
Raking in $1.8 Billion in the Crypto Cycle
Among Silicon Valley’s capital elite, Thiel was one of the first prominent investors to intersect with cryptocurrency and blockchain.
In September 2014, Thiel announced the latest batch of "Thiel Fellowship" winners, with 20 young people making the list—including 20-year-old Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Launched in 2010 through the Thiel Foundation, the two-year fellowship provides entrepreneurial grants to individuals aged 22 or younger without college degrees, encouraging them to "drop out and pursue research or startups." Beyond cash support, the program offers mentorship and networking—without taking equity. As Ethereum grew rapidly, Vitalik soon became the fellowship’s poster child.
Even before backing Vitalik, Thiel had shown interest in early blockchain. In 2013, Founders Fund led BitPay’s $2 million seed round. At the time, crypto payments were nascent, and outsiders interpreted this as top-tier Silicon Valley funds experimenting with "payment-side" crypto applications, betting on their compliance and merchant adoption prospects.
Another well-known Thiel investment in crypto was Block.one and Bullish—the former being the parent company of the EOS blockchain project, and the latter a crypto exchange launched by Block.one in 2021. In 2018, Block.one announced strategic investments from Peter Thiel, Bitmain, and others. In 2021, Block.one spearheaded Bullish, an institutional crypto trading platform, claiming a funding pool of ~$10 billion, with Thiel, Alan Howard, and Louis Bacon listed as early backers.
In 2019, mining infrastructure firm Layer1 announced a $50 million funding round with Thiel as an investor. Layer1 aimed to build comprehensive U.S.-based capabilities spanning power, chips, and self-operated mining farms—aligning with Thiel’s investment preference for "infrastructure and upstream control."
Beyond backing early crypto projects as an investor, Thiel’s returns from direct crypto investments may be even more staggering. Per Reuters, as one of crypto’s earliest institutional investors, Founders Fund began aggressively buying Bitcoin as early as 2014, liquidating its holdings just before the 2022 crypto crash for a ~$1.8 billion windfall.
Additionally, sources claimed Founders Fund re-entered crypto in summer 2023, investing $200 million to accumulate BTC and ETH over months. Reuters couldn’t confirm the average purchase prices, though BTC was then below $30K, and ETH fluctuated between $1.5K–$1.9K. Reuters noted: "His fondness for crypto aligns with the billionaire’s libertarian, small-government, and tech-innovation interests."
Doubling Down on Crypto
In recent years, Thiel has repeatedly endorsed Bitcoin. Publicly, he’s praised Bitcoin as "digital gold," calling it a hedge against inflation and central bank policies. At an October 2021 Miami event hosted by Lincoln Network, Thiel admitted feeling "underinvested in Bitcoin," adding, "You should just be buying Bitcoin."
True to his word, Thiel seems to have ramped up crypto exposure, with Founders Fund pivoting its strategy toward the space.
In May 2023, ex-Pantera co-CIO Joey Krug joined Founders Fund as a partner. On X, Krug stated: "I’ll focus on shaping the fund’s crypto strategy for the next decade while scouting the next wave of crypto startups and founders." His arrival marked Founders Fund’s shift toward treating crypto as a standard asset class.
Amid the corporate crypto treasury trend, Thiel emerged as a "behind-the-scenes winner." In mid-2025, Bitcoin miner Bitmine Immersion Technologies announced shifting its treasury strategy to ETH, appointing Fundstrat co-founder and macro analyst Tom Lee as chairman and launching a $250 million private placement. As a key shareholder, Thiel disclosed a ~9.1% stake in July, sending the stock up ~15% pre-market.
Per Strategicethreserve, Bitmine’s ETH holdings hit ~1.2 million ($5B+), topping corporate ETH treasuries—far ahead of #2 Sharplink Gaming (~728.8K ETH, ~$3.25B).
Thiel’s early bets also paid off. In August 2025, Bullish debuted on the NYSE with a strong first-day pop, marking the public-market arrival of his long-term "institutional trading infrastructure" wager.
Power Broker: Thiel’s Political Influence
Beyond fintech and crypto, Thiel’s reach extends to Washington’s power centers. As a "tech super-capitalist," his role in U.S. politics is undeniable—backing candidates and cultivating political-business ties to cement influence in the White House and Congress.
A rare Republican supporter in Silicon Valley, he publicly backed Trump during the 2016 election. In a region where nearly everyone opposed Trump, Thiel’s vocal support stood out—yet his self-described "libertarian, capitalist" identity resonated with Trump’s anti-establishment appeal.
Politically, Thiel has been highly active. In 2016, as a key Trump ally, he donated $1.25 million to the campaign and joined the presidential transition team.
The LA Times noted his long-term backing of GOP candidates, especially next-gen conservatives tied to tech. For instance, he gave protégé JD Vance—a former employee and now U.S. VP—a record $15 million for his Ohio Senate race, the state’s largest single donation. He also facilitated Vance’s Trump endorsement, indirectly securing Trump’s "golden ticket" for the 2024 race.
Another Thiel acolyte, Blake Masters—ex-COO of Thiel Capital and co-author of Zero to One—also received Thiel’s backing for his political ambitions, with over $10 million funneled into super PACs supporting both.
Major U.S. outlets have dubbed Thiel the GOP’s tech "power broker" or "kingmaker." Business Insider even called him the "Republican Party’s monarch"—the first tech investor to back and deliver for Trump in 2016.
Notably, Thiel’s stance toward Trump has since shifted. A 2023 Guardian report cited Thiel telling The Atlantic that supporting Trump felt like "a not-very-coherent cry for help," adding, "Things have gotten crazier and more dangerous than I expected." Trump reportedly sought a $10 million donation from Thiel in early 2023 but was rebuffed. Ultimately, Thiel sat out the 2024 election cycle.
