From Rob Copeland of the WSJ:

Founders Fund, the venture-capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of the volatile cryptocurrency, people familiar with the matter said. The bet has been spread across several of the firm’s most recent funds, the people said, including one that began investing in mid-2017 and made bitcoin one of its first investments.

As of this writing, Bitcoin is valued at about $14,655.

Why buy Bitcoin? Founders Fund is, after all, a venture firm rather than a hedge fund. But the firm apparently believes that start-up valuations currently are sky-high, while digital currencies will continue to climb in worth.

Has Founders Fund made money? The WSJ reports, citing its unnamed sources, that the firm bought about $15 million in Bitcoin and that its stake is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

— Michael J. de la Merced

So much for Jack Ma’s charm offensive.

So much for Jack Ma’s charm offensive.

United States officials have effectively killed Ant Financial’s $1.2 billion bid to buy MoneyGram.

Ant Financial, the electronic payments company controlled by Mr. Ma, became the latest Chinese firm to have its acquisition of an American company fall apart because it was unable to secure approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius.

The deal failed despite a charm offensive by Jack Ma, the Chinese internet. Shortly after President Trump won the 2016 election, Mr. Ma famously stood with the president-elect in Trump Tower in New York City and pledged that his e-commerce empire would help create one million American jobs.