Peter Thiel’s fund sold bitcoin holdings as downturn intensified, Fed hiked rates: FT

Peter Thiel’s Founder Fund sold its bitcoin holdings last year as the market decline intensified. 

The fund, which invests in “revolutionary technologies that reshape the way we interact with the world,” sold most of its bitcoin holdings by March 2022, according to a report from the Financial Times. The sale generated $1.8 billion, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

Around the same time, Thiel, known for founding roles at PayPal and Palantir and investing in Facebook, spoke at Bitcoin 2022 in Miami. The famed investor spent part of his keynote comparing the different purposes of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

By March last year, bitcoin and crypto prices had begun to tick lower amid a turbulent macroeconomic environment. Bitcoin was down roughly 34% to about $45,000 at the beginning of March 2022, from an all-time high of around $69,000 in Nov. 2021, according to data via TradingView. 

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

Crypto prices and risk assets traded down throughout the spring of 2022 as Russia invaded Ukraine. At the same time, the U.S. Federal Reserve increased interest rates for the first time since 2018. Rates rose 25 basis points to 50 0.5% to combat inflation — which was closing in on a 40-year high. 

While the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and the ensuing crisis in the crypto market came after Thiel’s fund closed its position, prices were far from the top by March.

The Founders Fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Block.

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