Tim Draper, one of the most known Silicon Valley venture capitalists, has played a crucial role in the Draper VC dynasty. Not only because he was an early investor in tech firms like Tesla and Skype but also because he made a turn in the Draper family’s path to Bitcoin (BTC).
In the latest episode of Cointelegraph’s Crypto Stories, Draper tells the story of how the Draper dynasty became bullish on Bitcoin, the broader crypto market and blockchain technology.
The Draper family crypto story started years ago when he grew interested in ways to exchange virtual goods against fiat currency and vice versa.
“I met this great guy from Korea, and he said that he had to buy his son a sword, and it was for the son’s birthday, and it was $40,” Draper reminisced about his early crypto thoughts. The sword turned out to be not a real sword but a virtual one, which made Draper think about virtual stores of value versus traditional money. He said:
“So people are buying virtual goods with fiat currency? And then I thought, ‘Well, maybe there will be fiat currency to buy fiat goods.’”
After Bitcoin came along in 2009, Draper was already looking for something like BTC cryptocurrency, and he started accumulating BTC early. “It was the universal currency, it was the currency for our entire earth,” he said.
Even after losing 40,000 Bitcoin to the collapsed exchange Mt. Gox back in 2011, Draper didn’t lose faith in Satoshi Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency. He continued buying Bitcoin, bagging 30,000 BTC from a state auction of BTC seized from Silk Road in 2014.
Related: Tim Draper recommends founders hold ’at least’ two payrolls ‘worth of cash’ in crypto
Draper’s passion for cryptocurrency was naturally passed on to his sons, Adam and Billy Draper. A fourth-generation venture capitalist, Adam Draper in 2012 founded Boost VC, an early stage venture capital firm focused on crypto. The company raised $90 million for its third round in September 2022. Adam’s brother, Billy, has also been vocal about the cryptocurrency industry.
According to Tim, both his sons became somehow involved in the crypto industry after he became a Bitcoin bull.
“My son was very enthusiastic about me doing it. Both sons actually were about to work with me and the other one started a Boost accelerator and he decided that after I bought that Bitcoin he would create an accelerator just focused on Bitcoin,” Draper said.
On the other hand, Tim’s father, Bill Draper, has remained skeptical about crypto no matter what. “My father was not enthusiastic about it at all,” Tim said, adding his father has always advised him to stick with the U.S. dollar.
Follow the full story: How Tim Draper made a fortune investing in Bitcoin | Crypto Stories Ep. 23