Thiel's Founders Fund has been quietly buying bitcoin since 2012

(Jan 3): Bitcoin has gained global fame in the past year, but it’s been popular at Peter Thiel’s venture firm since at least 2012.

Founders Fund, Thiel’s San Francisco-based firm known for early bets on SpaceX and Airbnb, has been purchasing small amounts of bitcoin in recent years, totaling no more than US$20 million ($26.6 million) , to establish a "toehold" in the space, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Those bitcoin holdings are now worth several hundred million dollars, though Founders Fund has yet to return any gains to its investors, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the investment hasn’t been publicly disclosed. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the firm’s bitcoin purchases.

While the investment amounts to a rounding error for Thiel’s firm, which has more than US$3 billion under management, it represents a departure from the way most venture investors have approached the bitcoin space.

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