Founders Fund Invests $5 Million in Anvil’s Crypto Collateral Protocol

Founders Fund, the venture firm linked to Peter Thiel, has led a $5 million token purchase in Anvil, a crypto collateral protocol. Unlike traditional equity rounds, this deal involves a direct investment in Anvil’s governance asset, tying the firm’s success to the protocol’s performance.

Anvil operates on Ethereum using an on-chain letter of credit structure, replacing banks with smart contracts. Users lock collateral like ETH or USDC into vaults to back programmable guarantees that avoid default risks, loans, and third-party custody. The protocol charges no fees and has recently expanded its accepted collateral to include assets like EURC, cbBTC, and WBTC.

Launched in January 2025, Anvil started as an open-source project and has since seen its total value locked (TVL) drop from a peak of nearly $109 million in July 2025 to around $10 million today. The ANVL token, with a total supply of 100 billion, has a circulating supply of roughly 80 to 88 billion, with 60% allocated to partners and community members.

The investment signals a strategic alignment between Founders Fund and ANVL holders, as the firm now has a stake in protocol governance decisions. However, Anvil faces challenges in proving demand for on-chain guarantees, especially amid risks associated with collateral like wrapped Bitcoin and synthetic dollars.