 
 
Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, best known for co-founding payments giant PayPal, has bet big on Ethereum (ETH).
Funds and entities affiliated with Thiel acquired a 9.1% stake in Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the Ether treasury strategy firm chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee. This bullish move by the prominent tech investor sparked optimism that the altcoin king could make a run for new record highs in the current cycle.
Peter Thiel’s ETH Bet
Peter Thiel purchased 9.1% of Bitmine Immersion Technologies via various investment funds. Thiel now owns over 5 million shares in the company, according to a Tuesday filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bitmine recently pivoted from operating mainly as a Bitcoin miner to an Ether treasury company, mirroring the business model publicized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
The Nasdaq-listed firm said on Monday that it holds over half a billion worth of Ether in its treasury. Specifically, Bitmine Immersion Technologies now owns 163,142 ETH worth approximately $536 million based on Ethereum’s current price at just over $3,315 per token.
 
ETH is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain, which is used by developers to create products for the internet such as crypto exchanges, games, and non-fungible tokens. With a market capitalization of $399.8 billion, it is the second-largest crypto behind only Bitcoin.
Ether’s Institutional Appeal Skyrockets
Interest in Ethereum treasuries has increased in recent weeks, which, until recently, had lagged behind Bitcoin in terms of corporate adoption.
SharpLink Gaming, founded by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, announced yesterday that it had boosted its total reserves to 280,706 ETH, making it the world’s largest corporate holder Ethereum.
The growing trend of corporate ETH acquisition strategies is boosting the price of ETH, which has gained another 7.2% today and 25% over the last seven days. That compares to BTC’s rather modest 9% climb over the past week, CoinGecko data shows.
And according to independent Ethereum educator Sassal, Thiel’s investment suggests that Ethereum could witness an unprecedented parabolic surge in the near future. Simply put, if Thiel is purchasing ETH, the price must be primed for a dramatic move beyond the $3,000 range, and possibly break past its current all-time high of $4,878.26.
“ETH is going so much higher than you can even imagine,” Sassal opined.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/ethereums-rocket-flight-to-new-record-highs-beckons-as-billionaire-peter-thiel-buys-stake-in-eth-treasury-firm/