Despite many positive reports for bitcoin from the world of economics and politics, its price has continued to fall in recent weeks. Even the growing interest in the cryptocurrency from giants such as PayPal and eBay does not help. Since July, the value of a single bitmonet has fallen from about $650 to its current state of about $470. Anxiety is slowly starting to creep into the hearts of many investors. One of them, however, but certainly not the only one, retains unwavering optimism. This is Tim Draper, investor and chief executive officer of Venture Capital investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, who has long committed substantial sums of money to emerging companies on the BTC market, including Argentina's BitPagos (business BTC payment processing), Korea's Korbit (bitcoin exchange, wallet and payment processing), or Mexico's Volabit (bitcoin exchange). However, in recent days the businessman became famous for a completely different reason. It turns out that he was the winner of a public auction conducted on 27 July of the confiscated property of Silk Road - the most famous Internet marketplace, closed by U.S. federal services on charges including intermediation in drug trafficking. The businessman managed to acquire the vast majority of the 30,000 bitcoins up for auction. Specifically, his bitcoin wallet grew by a sum of 29,656 BTC. At what price did Draper manage to acquire such a sizable number of bitmonets? That remains a mystery. When asked specifically about the value of the winning bid, he replied: "I paid more than the other participants in the auction". Tim Draper openly expresses his fascination with the revolutionary cryptocurrency: "I'm very excited about bitcoin. I know that our next fund will be hugely focused on supporting bitcoin-related companies. We are very intensely focused on this type of innovation." Asked if he is worried about the safety of the bitcoins he has auctioned, he replies: "I know that this money is much more secure than the money I keep in my bank account." Considering the current exchange rate of bitcoin and the exchange rate on the day the Silk Road property was auctioned off, the value of the bitcoin Draper acquired has since shrunk by more than $5 million. Draper makes no secret of the fact that he is somewhat surprised by bitcoin's recent decline in value, but looking at the long-term nature of his investment, he remains optimistic: "I think the markets are not seeing what I'm seeing. The whole economy is going through a rebuilding process. Personally, I am targeting a ceiling of around $10,000 for bitcoin over the next 3 years. However, even that may be a pessimistic forecast." Undeterred by the current trend of the cryptocurrency's price, Draper strongly encourages investment in both bitcoin itself and the infrastructure that supports it: "I think [bitcoin] is a huge opportunity, and there is clearly interest in the new cryptocurrency among societies in all corners of the world." "The companies I invest in are making it easier for people in their countries to do business. When the governments of these countries also realize that the financial success of a society means a tangible financial gain for the state, there will be truly favorable times for bitcoin investment." "I think the world should take advantage of the benefits of bitcoin as soon as possible [...] It will be of very tangible benefit to all of us." Tags bitcoin auction Silk Road Tim Draper
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