One of bitcoin's biggest backers, billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, recently wagered about US$400,000 that the digital currency will rebound from its recent plunge.
Draper, who co-founded investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said in an email that he bought 2,000 bitcoins for “around $200” last week. Draper, one of the biggest buyers in U.S. government auctions of bitcoin last year, is betting that the virtual currency will bounce back after prices dropped 70 percent in the past year.
Bitcoin's price dipped by more than 30 percent in two days this month, to below $200. Skeptics were already questioning the currency's future amid increasing regulatory oversight and after bitcoin's slide had made it one of the biggest money-losing investments of 2014, worse than oil or the ruble. Bitcoin was valued at about $272 on Monday, compared with more than $1,100 in late 2013, according to CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.
Draper bought about 32,000 bitcoins at government auctions last year. He's been investing them in various startups building on bitcoin technology, which can be used to facilitate cheap international money transfers or buy assets like gold. While he didn't specify the price paid in either auction, bitcoin was valued on the market at more than $600 at the time of the June auction.
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