Valar Ventures Sells £50 Million in Wise Shares Amid Crypto Shift

Valar Ventures, an early-stage fund co-founded by Peter Thiel, has sold approximately £50 million worth of Wise Plc shares through an overnight bookbuild. The transaction involved roughly 4.8 million Class A shares, priced at £10.30 each, reducing Valar’s stake in the London-listed payments company. This move comes after a long-standing relationship between Valar and Wise, which began in 2013 when Valar led a $6 million Series A round for Wise. Valar remained a key supporter through Wise’s 2021 direct listing, a significant event in the fintech sector. However, the recent sale indicates a strategic shift, as Wise’s share price has declined about 20% from its 2024 peak due to slowing growth and increased competition from digital payment platforms and stablecoin networks.

Valar’s exit from Wise follows a series of crypto-focused investments by Thiel. In late 2023, Founders Fund, another Thiel-backed entity, invested $200 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum, anticipating market rebounds. This year, the fund led a $200 million round for Polymarket, a prediction market platform nearing unicorn valuation. Earlier investments in Block.one, BitDAO, and Layer1 further highlight Thiel’s confidence in blockchain infrastructure over traditional fintech. These actions suggest a deliberate redeployment of capital from fintech investments like Wise into more speculative or long-term crypto ecosystems.

This shift in capital allocation is supported by market data. Venture investment in fintech declined by roughly 35% in the first half of 2025, due to regulatory demands and competitive pressures. In contrast, crypto-focused venture capital is estimated to reach $18 billion this year, nearly double the volume from 2024. This resurgence underscores investor interest in blockchain infrastructure, stablecoin networks, and emerging DeFi platforms. Wise’s early advantage in low-cost foreign exchange, once groundbreaking, now faces stiff competition from fast, efficient on-chain transfers enabled by stablecoins such as USDC. These platforms offer instant settlement and lower fees, challenging Wise’s value proposition and validating Valar’s decision to rotate its capital.

Valar’s withdrawal from Wise injects new liquidity into a vehicle already active in digital asset markets. Even partial deployment of the £50 million proceeds into crypto projects could accelerate late-stage fundraising rounds. Institutional movements of this scale help validate crypto’s standing among investors tracking capital flows as sentiment indicators. This capital rotation also reinforces a broader narrative: fintech profits and assets are increasingly being redirected to blockchain initiatives. For builders, developers, and secondary market participants, Thiel’s pivot may signal an additional layer of long-term confidence in DeFi infrastructure.

Despite these clear indicators, several uncertainties remain. Valar has not specified where the proceeds will be directed. It could invest in sectors beyond crypto, including AI or defense technologies, which align with Thiel’s historical interests. Regulatory dynamics remain unpredictable, with Wise navigating stricter anti-money laundering scrutiny in Europe and crypto subject to evolving global regulatory frameworks. A macroeconomic downturn could also impact valuations across both fintech and digital asset sectors.

As with the prior stealth buy of crypto assets, Valar’s next deployment may come quietly. Through Form D filings, token treasury announcements, or limited partnership disclosures, institutional trackers and industry analysts will be monitoring closely. If a portion of the Wise exit funds a token or blockchain investment, this may mark another inflection point in the flow of venture capital from traditional financial systems to Web3 infrastructure.